KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — The government must explain its decision to fully discharge and acquit Datuk Hasanah Abdul Hamid, the former director-general of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO), of criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges, the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) said today.

Muda central executive committee member Lim Wei Jiet questioned the decision, pointing out that de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar explicitly told Parliament that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation into the matter was still ongoing.

He then said that if MACC investigations into Hasanah’s alleged CBT had been completed, an explanation into the matter and the outcome of the investigation must be made public.

"So why did the government and prosecution suddenly today agree to allow Datuk Hasanah to be fully released? Has the investigation carried out by the MACC been completed? If so, why was there no explanation to the public regarding the outcome of the investigation?

"This is not the first time that charges against former ministers or top civil servants of the Barisan Nasional era have been dropped without a reasonable explanation. The charge of criminal breach of trust against a former head of intelligence of the country is also very serious because it involves national security and sovereignty,” he said.

Hasanah was today fully discharged and acquitted by the High Court of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM50.4 million funds belonging to the government.

The decision was made by Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain during a hearing in court this morning and the prosecution did not object to her application to vary the initial discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) order granted on April 12 last year.

The decision means Hasanah cannot be charged and tried again for the same offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code. Hasanah was first charged on October 25, 2018 with committing CBT with funds belonging to the Malaysian government.

She was accused of having committed the offence under Section 409 of the Penal Code in her capacity as a civil servant in the Research Division of the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya between April 30, 2018 and May 9, 2018.

Last year, High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh granted Hasanah a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) after the prosecution said it would not continue the trial proceedings against Hasanah at that point in time.