The Attorney-General’s Chambers’ today announced it will officially withdraw its appeal against PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli’s acquittal in the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) case.
This was stated by the prosecution to the Court of Appeal this morning, which then retained Rafizi’s acquittal.
The AGC had come under scrutiny after filing to appeal the Shah Alam’s High Court’s decision to acquit and discharge Rafizi and bank clerk Johari Mohamad of Bafia charges.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said last week he was unaware of the move to challenge the acquittal and labelled it as an act of disobedience by his officers.
He signed the withdrawal of the appeal on Monday.
Rafizi and Johari were found guilty by the lower court last year for disclosing documents to the media comprising banking details related to National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFC), National Meat & Livestock Sdn Bhd, Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd and NFC chairperson Mohd Salleh Ismail.
The High Court overturned the decision last month, saying the prosecution had failed to produce the original documents as required by section 61 of the Evidence Act.
The Court of Appeal was initially only slated to hear the case on March 9, 2020 but moved up the case mention to today.
The 43-year-old former Pandan MP has announced that he is stepping away from active politics to focus on a tech start-up.