Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said he was thankful for the High Court’s decision to grant Zahid a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA), adding that the case was “political and selective prosecution”.

The Rengit assemblyman also said this reminded him of the High Court’s decision to free Umno veteran Shahrir Samad from a RM1 million money laundering charge in January, after the prosecution decided not to proceed with the case.

During Shahrir’s trial, a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer had told the court that former attorney-general Tommy Thomas had insisted MACC prosecute Shahrir though their investigation papers on his case were incomplete.

“I hope that the (existing) charges against Najib would be dropped. The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) is still silent to this day on the leaked memo,” Puad told FMT.

He was referring to an alleged 12-page memo involving Najib’s 1MDB-International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) case, which said an evaluation found that the available evidence in the case was “grossly insufficient to prove a prima facie case for the six charges, let alone to secure a conviction beyond reasonable doubt”.

It was purportedly sent to then attorney-general Tommy Thomas by the lead prosecutor in the case, Jamil Airpin, in September 2019. The AGC has since said it was investigating the leak of the document, but did not confirm its authenticity.

Citing Zahid’s discharge and Shahrir’s acquittal, Puad said so much time had been wasted while the defendants had to bear heavy legal costs.

“Their families were shamed, while public funds were wasted for trials that were in vain. Therefore, the police must immediately launch a probe into the leaked memo (involving Najib’s 1MDB-IPIC case).”

Another Umno Supreme Council member, Razlan Rafii, expressed confidence that Zahid will be fully acquitted of all 47 charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

He said the case had greatly affected Zahid and Umno members, claiming that it was only aimed at assassinating the Bagan Datuk MP’s character.

“I believe Zahid will get a full acquittal in this case,” he said.

Wanita Umno chief Noraini Ahmad said Zahid’s DNAA will further spur the spirits of the Umno election machinery campaigning for the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, to be held on Saturday.