Former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is still facing money laundering charges, has applied for his passport to be returned so that he can undergo medical treatment in Singapore.
The chairman of opposition bloc Perikatan Nasional said in a supporting affidavit that he also needed the document to travel to London at the end of the year as part of a family tradition of going on a month-long trip annually, Malaysian media reported.
The Pagoh MP plans to undergo a heart examination through a stress test on a treadmill at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, according to his affidavit.
Muhyiddin said he had been treated a few years ago at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where doctors had informed him that Mount Elizabeth Hospital has the same treatment and diagnostic tools, Malay Mail reported, citing the affidavit.
On the year-end holiday, he said: “This trip is important because I can spend time with my family, because this year has been very stressful for my family and I.”
He added that his passport was needed to book tickets for his wife and himself as his travel agent had advised him that it was difficult to secure tickets during the Christmas holiday season, the newspaper reported.
Muhyiddin noted that his lawyers’ advice was that his RM2 million (S$576,000) bail was enough to ensure he turned up in court and that the handing over of his passport had merely been an additional guarantee.
Earlier in October, Muhyiddin had filed an application to set aside three money laundering charges involving some RM200 million related to projects awarded under his government’s Jana Wibawa stimulus programme, after being acquitted in August from four power abuse charges in relation to these projects.
The programme was launched to help bumiputera – a term for the Malay majority and indigenous minorities – contractors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Malaysia’s anti-graft agency had investigated allegations that contractors chosen for the stimulus programme were required to deposit money in accounts belonging to Muhyiddin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, in exchange for projects.
Muhyiddin, who was prime minister for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, refuted the claims, calling them political slander.
In setting aside the power abuse charges, High Court Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin said the charges were “defective, baseless and vague”.
He added that the charges did not show any details of the offence, causing Muhyiddin to be unable to give proper instructions to his team of lawyers, The Star reported.
