KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) has filed an appeal over Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman's acquittal in a case related to what was alleged to be the misuse of Bersatu funds.

In a statement, the AGC said that it filed the notice of appeal at the Federal Court on Thursday, June 26, after reviewing and considering the appellate court's decision which overturned Syed Saddiq's earlier conviction and sentence.

The AGC also added that the appeal was standard practice in the country's judicial system and was not prejudiced against any particular person.

"The filing of this appeal is intended to ensure that the legal issues arising from the Court of Appeal’s (COA) decision can be thoroughly reviewed and ultimately decided by the Federal Court, in accordance with the principles of justice and transparent legal governance," The AGC said without elaborating on what the legal issues were.

The notice of appeal will be followed by the petition of appeal which contains all the grounds challenging the COA's decision.

On Wednesday, a three-member COA panel, led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, unanimously overturned the High Court's decision in Syed Saddiq's case, as they found that the trial judge had erred in its findings and that the prosecution had failed to prove the ingredients of the charges in the case.

The panel was also of the view that Syed Saddiq's defence was not a mere bare denial, but rather had challenged the evidence put forth by the prosecution, which the trial judge had failed to consider and appreciate.

COA judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin broke-down the panel's detailed reasoning as she read off the judgement for a little more than an hour. Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah was also part of the panel.

Syed Saddiq was appealing against the High Court's 2023 decision, where he was found guilty of four charges consisting of abetting criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of party funds, and money laundering.

The funds in question belonged to Armada, Bersatu's youth wing, which the 32-year-old had led before leaving the party in May 2020.

The former youth and sports minister was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison, two strokes of the rotan, and a fine of RM10 million.

The young politician had been found guilty of two main charges that were separate and not connected to each other.

For the first charge, Syed Saddiq had been found guilty of abetting former Armada assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razali in committing criminal breach of trust  by withdrawing RM1 million of party funds in March 2020.

For the second charge, Syed Saddiq had been found guilty of misusing RM120,000 of party contributions belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE) in April 2018. ABBE is a company set up to generate income for Armada through merchandise sales. The sum was transferred to Syed Saddiq's personal Maybank account.

The other two money-laundering charges were linked to this second charge.

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Syed Saddiq succeeds in appeal over misuse of Bersatu funds, criminal conviction overturned