By Tarrence Tan | Free Malaysia Today
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) President Muhyiddin Yassin, being probed under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and the Sedition Act, hopes he will not end up behind bars for his recent speech regarding 1MDB in Parliament.
“While I sympathise with what has happened to Rafizi (Ramli), I hope I will not fall into the same situation because I do believe what I said in Parliament was covered by parliamentary immunity,” he told reporters outside the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
Muhyiddin was referring to PKR MP Rafizi Ramli, who was sentenced to 18 months’ jail yesterday for leaking a classified 1MDB audit report at a press conference held at the Parliament lobby between March 24 and 28.
The former deputy prime minister reiterated that as an MP, he was protected under Article 63(2) of the Federal Constitution, which granted lawmakers criminal and civil immunity over what was said in the Dewan Rakyat, even for offences under the OSA 1972.
“And, as an MP, I have the right to speak and I do have immunity. So, I hope that the authorities will understand the whole background of this matter.”
According to Muhyiddin’s lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad, the Pagoh MP is currently being probed under Section 8 of the OSA and Section 4 of the Sedition Act for his parliamentary speech on Oct 26.
“The police have asked certain questions and we have answered these questions to the best of our ability.
“Let’s hope that this is the end of the matter and there will be no further investigation because what was said and done came under his rights as an MP.”
Muhyiddin, who was stripped of his Cabinet posts in July last year for speaking out against alleged wrongdoings involving 1MDB, was subjected to questioning by the police today over a speech he had made in Parliament last month.
The speech had allegedly divulged 1MDB information, which was obtained when he was still the deputy prime minister.
He had revealed that the Cabinet had wanted to approve a RM3 billion loan to 1MDB, but after much persuasion on his part, a decision was made to convert the loan into a standby credit facility of RM950 million instead.
It was also previously reported that police were investigating three former ministers for their speeches in the Dewan Rakyat, touching on the 1MDB scandal. Aside from Muhyiddin, the other ministers are Shafie Apdal and former second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/11/15/muhyiddin-hopes-to-avoid-rafizis-fate/
