KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has granted Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's application to transfer his power abuse and money laundering case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
Justice Muhammad Jamil Hussin made the decision after hearing submissions from both parties on Monday (June 16).
"I have deliberated on the submissions. The applicant has met the threshold for his case to be transferred and tried at the High Court under Section 417(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
"The three legal questions raised by the charges are extraordinarily difficult," he said.
Justice Muhammad Jamil expressed confidence in the Sessions Court judge's expertise but felt it was "more expedient" for the High Court to determine the legal questions.
"I hereby allow the application," the judge said.
The court set July 14 for case management at the High Court.
In the application filed on April 4, Muhyiddin cited complex legal issues and questions of unusual difficulty, particularly regarding the constitutionality of several provisions in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
According to the Bersatu president, the case is of public interest, attracting significant media coverage both domestically and internationally, and allowing the application would not prejudice the prosecution.
On April 27, 2023, Muhyiddin filed an application to transfer the case, but he withdrew it on July 10 of the same year.
In May, Muhyiddin submitted a second application for transfer.
Muhyiddin, 77, was charged with four counts of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM232.5mil in connection with the Jana Wibawa Project from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff for the party.
He allegedly committed the offence at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020, and August 20, 2021.
Muhyiddin also faces three charges of receiving RM200mil from illegal activities, deposited into Bersatu's AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts.
The offences were allegedly committed at AmBank, Amcorp Mall branch, Petaling Jaya on January 7, 2022, and at CIMB Bank, Menara KL Branch, Jalan Stesen Sentral between February 25 and July 16, 2021, and February 8 and July 8, 2022.
Muhyiddin's lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin appeared in the proceedings.
