Malaysia arrests opposition leader over corruption
Leader of Malaysia’s Democratic Action Party (DAP) Lim Guan Eng has been arrested on corruption charges after he criticized the government for alleged links to a financial scandal.
“Lim was served with an arrest warrant by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) this evening on two corruption charges,” Jeff Ooi, a DAP lawmaker, said Wednesday.
Ooi said Lim’s charges included improper change of use of public land to allow development, and other charges that may lead to his imprisonment.
Lim was charged last year by the MACC for corruption over the purchase of a house at a price below the market. He has denied the allegations.
The MACC would not comment on the Wednesday arrest but Ooi said may be freed in the next 24 hours.
“We expect Lim, who is in MACC custody now, to be freed on bail after being charged in court Thursday,” Ooi said.
Lim has served as the chief minister of Penang state since 2008. He has been the secretary-general of the DAP since 2004. The 55-year-old lawmaker has been a vocal critic of scandal-hit Prime Minister Najib Razak. Lim has asked Razak to explain a massive financial scandal linked to state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Opposition media have accused the government of Razak of failing to properly explain how hundreds of millions of dollars of 1MDB money has gone missing in complex overseas transactions. Officials in Switzerland, where the 1MDB accounts are held, say more than USD 4 billion may have been stolen.
Razak, himself a founder of 1MDB, rejects any wrongdoing. Malaysia’s attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali said in January that the prime minister was cleared of all charges related to the graft case and closed the investigation.
The Malaysian premier has been hit by another corruption case. Last year, it was revealed that USD 681 million in transfers were made to his personal bank accounts in 2013. Najib said at the time that the money was “personal donations” from the Saudi royal family, claiming that most of it was returned.
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