KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin is suing the Malaysian government and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly abusing their powers to prosecute him for crimes that he says he did not commit.

Hamzah said he sent a letter of demand (LOD) to both parties and to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) today, and that that all parties had acknowledged receipt of said LOD.

Hamzah is accusing them of abusing and interrogating a Chinese businessman in an apparent bid to force him to implicate Hamzah in a business deal for which he apparently received kickbacks in exchange for projects from the Home Ministry.

"This businessman named Datuk Seri Steven Sim Choo Thiam was interrogated and threatened by MACC officers until 4am, which is a breach of lock-up rules.

"He was threatened with criminal action and detention unless he implicated me in the wrongdoing, and he was subject to improper mental pressure and intimidation while incarcerated at MACC headquarters in Putrajaya.

"The officers shouted at him and were unhappy when he kept saying that I was not involved in any wrongdoing, and I feel both the MACC and the government are conspiring to use lawful and unlawful means to destroy my reputation.

"Since I feel that I am being selectively prosecuted, I am compelled to send them an LOD to ask them to cease and desist from continually trying to defame me and tarnish my reputation,” Hamzah said during a press conference at Perikatan Nasional (PN) headquarters today.

On July 4, Sim, who is facing four counts of soliciting and accepting bribes amounting to RM15 million to secure projects from the Home Ministry, filed a notice to set aside the charges.

In the notice filed at the Sessions Court, he is seeking to be discharged but not amounting to an acquittal on all the charges.

The 53-year-old businessman claimed that the public prosecutor as the respondent had breached their statutory obligations under Sections 153 and 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and that the investigation into the case was incomplete.

He is also seeking the respondent to submit to him a written statement of facts that is in favour of the defence as provided under Section 51A (1)(c) of the CPC within seven days from the date of the court order.

Sim was charged with committing the offences on May 10 this year, during which he pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

He was charged with soliciting a RM15 million bribe from Hep Kim Hong, the managing director of Asia Coding Centre Sdn Bhd, through Syed Abu Zafran Syed Ahmad, as an inducement for the then home minister Hamzah to award projects to the company.

He was also charged with three counts of accepting RM15 million in bribes from the same individual as an inducement for Hamzah to do similar things.

The offences were allegedly committed at two different locations — Shaas Holdings office and a parking lot at Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1 here, between June and July 2021.

The charges were framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the MACC Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Hamzah argued that the MACC entire investigation stemmed from a blog post that claimed Sim had allegedly bribed him with RM15 million in return for government projects.

However, he said there was no evidence to substantiate the claims, and he called the authorities "desperate”.

Hamzah accused the MACC of torturing Sim to force a false confession out of him that would implicate Hamzah in the bribery scandal.

He said Sim, in his police report lodged on June 6 against the MACC for abusing him, mentioned that he was pressured by MACC interrogators to implicate Hamzah many times, but the businessman refused to do so despite being promised his freedom if he cooperated.

"This is what I mean by cruelty, villainy. Only the public can change this kind of behaviour by ensuring such people are not in power anymore.

"We can’t be living in fear and these people are purposely abusing their power to intimidate us,” he added.

Hamzah also cited the cases of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his son-in-law Datuk Seri Muhammad Adlan Berhan as examples of selective prosecution.

He claimed the government was out to destroy their reputation to stay in power.