Musa said no one should be a victim of baseless accusations and political vendetta after having been cleared of wrongdoing twice.
He said his detractors should focus their energy and time on finding “real solutions and contribute to overcoming the problems associated with the pandemic instead of this continuous political lynching”.
Musa said his case – based on allegations made over 16 years ago – had been investigated by local and Hong Kong authorities and that both had found no evidence that he had committed any offence.
Last year, Musa was freed of 46 corruption and money laundering charges in relation to timber concessions in the state after the deputy public prosecutor withdrew all charges.
Musa, who was chief minister from 2003 to 2018, claimed trial to all corruption charges against him on Nov 5, 2018.
In a statement today, Musa said an earlier probe by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Hong Kong had found that he was not involved in any corrupt activities. He said ICAC had not initiated further investigations against him.
Similarly, based on the outcome of the investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the attorney-general’s chambers found no element of corrupt practices or money laundering activities on his part, Musa said.
“The investigations and the legal processes have been complied with and it supported only one conclusion, which was that I did not at any time solicit or receive any form of bribery,” he said.
His statement comes days after former minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman questioned why Musa had been released. Syed Saddiq said this after Perikatan Nasional Youth had described as “wild and baseless” the Muar MP’s claim that corruption charges were brought against him because he had refused to support the current administration.
Musa went on to say that his case had been a form of political persecution, adding that despite being cleared of any offence by local and international authorities, he was arrested and charged in court in November 2018 “without reason”.
Coincidentally, it happened two days prior to the decision of his civil case against the Sabah governor and his (Musa’s) successor, Shafie Apdal, over who was the rightful Sabah chief minister.
“Does this not indicate that the charges brought against me were made in bad faith and reeked of political persecution?”
Musa said he had filed two applications at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, one to strike out the criminal charges and the other to refer certain constitutional questions to the Federal Court, as he had nothing to hide. He said to support his application, he had provided all relevant and important documents, including documents from ICAC.
He said new facts or issues were raised by the prosecution, adding that prosecutors in 2018 relied solely on the previous investigations conducted by ICAC and MACC, both of which had cleared him of any offence.
“From a legal standpoint, it must be emphasised that a decision made by the attorney-general as public prosecutor must not be taken lightly and should not be changed without any cogent reason.”
Also, Musa said, the prosecution had in June last year decided to withdraw all charges and discontinue the prosecution against him and that the presiding High Court Judge, Muhammad Jamil Hussin, had ordered for his “discharge and acquittal from all charges”.