KUALA LUMPUR: Two TikTok videos containing a speech by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin became the central point on the first day of the hearing of the former prime minister's Jana Wibawa graft trial.
The videos, one containing audio and the other containing visual and audio, were played before the High Court, presided over by Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin, here on Monday (March 9).
In the videos, the Pagoh MP was heard saying that he had been accused of bribery, but none of it went to his pockets.
“Tuduhan pada saya, saya terima rasuah. Wallahi, satu sen pun tidak masuk poket saya. Dia masuk pada parti (I have been accused of bribery. By God, not a single sen entered my pocket. It went to the party),” Muhyiddin said in the videos.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer Mohd Syawaludin Said, 37, testified that he was instructed by investigating officer Mazery Mohd Zaini to investigate the videos.
The first audio-only video was uploaded by “@puterishantek” on Jan 16, 2025 and the audio visual video was uploaded by “@wanhadi21” on July 26, 2025.
“I made a download and a screen recording of the videos and transferred it into a pendrive. I also made a marking on the pendrive, ‘TSMY (asal)’,” the first prosecution witness said.
When asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Nur Iman Wan Mohd Afzal, the witness said the voice in the videos belonged to Muhyiddin.
“I am sure that it was Muhyiddin's voice because he was the prime minister between 2020 and 2021,” Mohd Syawaludin said.
During cross-examination by lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, the witness admitted that he had not investigated who had inserted the caption, geolocation, and hashtag into the videos.
Amer: Have you heard of AI? Artificial intelligence?
Mohd Syawaludin: Yes.
Amer: If you don't investigate the authenticity, can you tell if this (videos) are AI-generated or not?
Mohd Syawaludin: I cannot.
Amer: TikTok is not a credible evidence.
Mohd Syawaludin: I disagree.
The hearing continues before Justice Noor Ruwena on Tuesday.
Muhyiddin, 78, who was then prime minister and Bersatu president, was charged with four counts of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM225.3mil in relation to the Jana Wibawa Project from three companies and an individual for the party.
The offence was allegedly committed at the Prime Minister's Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021.
He also faces three counts of receiving proceeds from illegal activities totalling RM200mil which were deposited into Bersatu's bank accounts between February 2021 and July 2022.
