The Public Prosecutor's Office in Malaysia has charged 45 former Interior Minister Zahid Hamidi with corruption and money laundering worth $ 26.6 million.
Zahed appeared before a court in Kuala Lumpur on Friday to face charges, while hundreds of supporters of the Malaysian opposition demonstrated in front of the court building to solidarity with him.
Hamidi leads the National Alliance of United Malaysians, which came out of power after losing the May election to an alliance led by current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Party leaders came to the court to lobby for Hamidi, including former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razzaq, who also faces corruption charges.
Zahid Hamedi, 65, denied involvement in any charges against him. "I am ready to face all the charges against me," he said. "It is a test from God."
Since the last elections, the United Malays National Alliance (MNLP) has been under considerable pressure with many of its partners abandoning it, turning it into a symbol of rampant corruption and a policy of ethnic divisions in a multi-ethnic country that is corrupting its ruling class.
Hamidi faces 27 charges of money laundering, eight counts of bribery and 10 counts of treason.
Among the main charges against him are embezzlement of charity funds, bribes for government tenders and money laundering by buying property.
Hamidi was released on bail of 2 million ringgit (about 488,000 dollars) and the date of the next session was set for December 14.
The party insists the trial of its leader is politicized, and his brother Mohammed Luqman Hamidi said Friday was a "black day" for Malaysia, asserting his brother's innocence of the charges against him.
Hamidi was the interior minister in the last government. He still sticks to his allegiance to Abdel Razzaq, who was abandoned by prominent figures in the wake of the Sovereign Wealth Fund scandal.
US authorities estimate the size of the embezzlement from the fund at $ 4.5 billion, including $ 700 million transferred to personal accounts owned by Najib Abdul Razzaq.