Was Dr M Involved In Dropping Guan Eng S Charges Azalina Shoots Back At Mp

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Former law minister Azalina Othman Said turned the tables on Selayang MP William Leong who alleged that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had approved the move to drop money laundering charges against Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz
Azalina (photo) said such a line of questioning could also be made on whether former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was involved in the corruption charges against former finance minister Lim Guan Eng being dropped
"Leong, I'm afraid that your public statement/question to the PM may just stir up a hornet's nest
"Allow me to the 'nolle prosequi' (voluntary end to prosecution) against YB Bagan (Lim) on Aug 2, 2018
"Was PM7 (Mahathir) Involved in that decision? I highly doubt it. Or am I wrong to assume that?" Azalina tweeted yesterday
She added: "I’m the last person to remind you regarding separation of powers between the executive, judiciary and legislature."Azalina was responding to an opinion piece by Leong published by Focus Malaysia on Sunday, in which the PKR MP asked whether Muhyiddin had approved of the plea bargain deal given to Riza
The Prime Minister's Office on Monday said Muhyiddin was not involved in the decision
Under the plea bargain deal, Riza, the stepson of former premier Najib Abdul Razak, was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for charges of money laundering involving US$248 million (RM1.08 billion) linked to 1MDB funds
In exchange, Riza is to return foreign assets estimated to be worth US$107.3 million (RM465.3 million)
Lim, in 2016, claimed trial two graft charges over the alleged conversion of state land status and purchase of a bungalow below the market value during his time as Penang chief minister
In Sept 2018, the prosecution decided not to pursue the case, citing fresh evidence and applied for a DNAA as well
However, after protests from the defence, the High Court in Penang agreed to grant full acquittal.The acquittal had been widely panned by Pakatan Harapan critics, most recently by Najib's family lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. - Mkini

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