Musa under arrest but remand denied, says Sabah top cop

Tan Sri Musa Aman. – Bernama

KOTA KINABALU: Former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman was placed under arrest in Kuala Lumpur at 10am Thursday (Aug 23).

Sabah police chief Datuk Ramli Din confirmed the arrest and said that police applied for a remand order but this was turned down by the magistrate's court.

It is learnt that the Sungai Sibuga assemblyman is still receiving treatment at a hospital in Subang Jaya.

Musa, who was missing from the country since May 17, returned to Malaysia on Tuesday (Aug 21) and is now seeking medical treatment at a private hospital in Subang Jaya.

Musa is being sought by police over a criminal intimidation report lodged by the head of state Tun Juhar Mahiruddin after GE14.

The former Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman was sworn in as chief minister on the night of May 10 to form a government with a simple majority of 31 seats, a day after the 14th General Election concluded on May 9.

But his tenure was short-lived as Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal was sworn in three days later after six Barisan state assemblymen abandoned the coalition to join Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan).

The move gave Shafie a simple majority of 35 seats.

On May 14, a day after Shafie was appointed, Musa, by then wanted by the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), fled Sabah.

He left Malaysia on May 17 for the United Kingdom.

But on Tuesday, the day his political arch-nemesis Shafie marked his 100 days in office, Musa returned in a private jet from Singapore.

He is expected to face a series of investigations by the police, graft agency and even immigration ahead of a Sept 3 High Court decision on his (Musa) reaction to Shafie’s appointment as the Chief Minister by Governor Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.

Musa is Sabah's longest serving Chief Minister, with a 15-year tenure that began in 2003