Muhyiddin engages King's counsel in battle against Court of Appeal's reinstatement of charges

PUTRAJAYA: Former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has engaged the services of a King’s Counsel in his legal battle to overturn a Court of Appeal decision reinstating four abuse of power charges against him.

Muhyiddin's lawyer, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, confirmed to Bernama that King’s Counsel Steven Perian will be joining Muhyiddin’s defense team, which consists of a total of 14 lawyers including himself.

They will appear at the hearing of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) president seeking leave to review the Court of Appeal’s decision, scheduled before a five-member panel of judges on Tuesday.

The other lawyers are Datuk K. Kumaraendran, Rosli Dahlan, Amer Hamzah Arshad, Chetan Jethwani, Dev Kumarendran, Low Wei Loke, Kee Wei Lon, Teh See Khoon, Joshua Tay, Siti Sumaiyyah Ahmad Jaafar, Lee Yee Woei, Tang Jia Yearn, and Nur Fatin Hafiza Hasham.

Steven returned to Malaysia early this year from the United Kingdom (UK) and joined the law firm Messrs Rosli Dahlan Saravanan Partnership.

He is licensed to practice law in both UK and Malaysia which exempts him from requiring permission to appear before Malaysian Court judges.

A King's Counsel is a senior lawyer, either a barrister or solicitor advocate, recognised for outstanding skill and experience in advocacy in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries.

Steven was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2016 and is renowned for his contributions as a King’s Counsel specialising in criminal law in London. He is the first Malaysian Queen’s Counsel admitted to the High Court of Malaya in 2019.

On March 27, this year, Muhyiddin applied for leave to seek a review of the Court of Appeal's decision in February, which reinstated four charges against him that the High Court had previously dismissed.

Muhyiddin, 77, is facing charges of allegedly using his position as Prime Minister and Bersatu president at the time, to solicit RM232.5mil in bribes for his political party from three companies - Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, as well as from Datuk Azman Yusoff.

He is accused of committing the act at the Prime Minister's Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra, Federal Government Administration Centre in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021.

The Pagoh MP also faces two charges of receiving RM195mil from illegal activities via Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, deposited into Bersatu's CIMB Bank account.

He allegedly committed the act at CIMB Bank Menara KL Branch, Jalan Stesen Sentral between Feb 25 and July 16, 2021, and between Feb 8 and July 8, 2022.- Bernama