MACC told to drop 'remand and release' routine on Umno-BN leaders

The closing of the corruption case on former Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) chairperson Annuar Musa comes as no surprise, according to PKR Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul.

He said the matter was predictable, “as it is not the first time a Umno-BN leader is freed without any sort of legal action.”

“It raises the question if actions to investigate him earlier were just political sandiwara (play acting), to try to shut the people up?” he said in a statement today.

Johari (photo) said the government should stop the charade as the people were increasingly mature today.

“The people want to see cases that are investigated being sent through the court process to be judged, not just (for the accused) to be remanded and then released,” he said.

On Jan 12, Annuar was accused of using his position as the then Majlis Amanah Rakyat chairperson to force Pelaburan Mara Bhd (PMB) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) to sponsor the Kelantan football team.

Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had initiated the accusations against Annuar, and passed documents that purportedly detailed the said transactions to the MACC.

Tunku Ismail is now the president of the Football Association of Malaysia.

Annuar, who is a former Kelantan Football Association (Kafa) president, was subsequently suspended from his position in Mara.

On Wednesday, the MACC said no charges would be pressed against Annuar due to “insufficient evidence”.

Johari said in contrast to the Umno information chief, if the case were to involve a leader from the opposition, “surely a case would be made and (the person) would be charged immediately” to show MACC's fairness and diligence.

He lamented the state of corruption in the country, and said if “Malaysian Official 1” - a figure identified by the US Department of Justice in what they call their biggest kleptocracy case to date - could not be charged, “then what more the underlings, who will also follow suit to be freed from any charges”.

He added that the people will only truly have confidence in the MACC if they tackle graft in a manner that is free from any political influence.- Mkini