KUALA LUMPUR – Repeating his claim that the criminal charges against him are a form of political persecution, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today alleged that he faced “threats” from former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who demanded that Umno be dissolved, the high court heard today.
Zahid, who is president of Umno, claimed that Dr Mahathir had also “threatened” him, telling him to make the leap to the latter’s then party Bersatu or risk “consequences”.
Zahid was testifying in his own defence against 47 charges involving criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering in relation to Yayasan Akalbudi.
“At that time, I went to meet with Dr Mahathir in my capacity as president of Umno, as a few people had told me that he wanted to meet me.
“When I met him, he asked me to dissolve the party and jump over to his party or risk the consequences.
“I believe the criminal charges against me are based on these threats,” he said during re-examination by his lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.
Dr Mahathir’s most recent stint as prime minister was from May 2018 to March 2020 when he led the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
The 97-year-old has since left Bersatu and PH, and formed Pejuang where he is now the chairman.
Zahid also pointed out that Dr Mahathir had publicly admitted to asking him to dissolve the party.
He reiterated that the slew of criminal charges against him were only drawn up after PH had won in the 2018 election.
Zahid had met Dr Mahathir on June 7, 2018, at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya. He later won the Umno presidential election on June 30, 2018.
He was then charged in court in relation to criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi on October 20, 2018.
Zahid also testified that PH had dropped 15 other court cases against their own lawmakers such as Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim (PKR), Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng (DAP), Sg Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR) and Rafizi Ramli (PKR).
However, PH had then decided to pursue criminal charges against over 80 of Umno’s office bearers, including party secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and treasurer-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, further enforcing the objective of “political persecution” by the Mahathir-led administration, he said.
The case in front of Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues today. – The Vibes, August 29, 2022
