China News Agency, Kuala Lumpur, September 23 (Chen Yue Zhang Weiqi) The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled on the 23rd that the chairman of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and former Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Zahid was not guilty of the "visa system" case involved.
The trial judge declared that the prosecution's 40 charges against Zahid were unsubstantiated.
Malaysian prosecutors announced they would appeal immediately after the judge's ruling, with Zahid saying "justice has been upheld".
Zahid was accused by prosecutors of taking bribes from a company to keep it running Malaysia's visa system when he was home minister from 2014 to 2018.
In addition to the "visa system" case, Zahid was also accused by the prosecution of money laundering, breach of trust and corruption in the Healthy Thinking Fund he founded.
The case is still pending.
After Umno lost the 2018 general election, many of its top officials faced legal charges, and former Prime Minister Najib has been sentenced to prison in the "SRC International" case.
Local analysts believe that the verdict in the case involving the top Umno officials will have an impact on the upcoming national election.
(Finish)