Malaysian court overturns Syed Saddiq’s corruption conviction

The appeal court also admonished the lower court for not throwing out the allegations of embezzling funds earlier

The Malaysian appeal court on Wednesday quashed the corruption conviction of former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, admonishing the lower court for not throwing out the allegations of embezzling funds earlier.

Syed Saddiq, a 33-year-old rising political star, was found guilty in 2023 of abetting a subordinate to withdraw 1 million ringgit (US$235,000) from his party Bersatu’s youth wing account, and misappropriating another 120,000 ringgit to fund his 2018 election campaign.

He was fined 10 million ringgit on top of a seven-year prison sentence but was out on bail pending the appeal.

On Wednesday, a three-member panel in the Court of Appeal unanimously overturned the conviction, ruling that it was the result of “serious misdirection” by the trial judge.

The panel found that the high court judge had made several wrong decisions and that there was no element of dishonesty in Syed Saddiq’s bank withdrawal instructions.

After the ruling, the member of parliament for Muar thanked his supporters.

“Five years of having my name tarnished and accusations hurled at me for being dishonest have taken a heavy toll … It was five years of hell,” a tearful Syed Saddiq said, flanked by his family and supporters.

“I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my worst enemies, but I also hold no grudges,” he told reporters outside the court. “Moving forward, [it’s] back to the job. I will continue to devote myself to Malaysia.”

Syed Saddiq maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming the allegations against him were politically motivated to pressure him to back the administration of then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin in 2020.

Sacked from Bersatu in May 2020, alongside then party chairman Mahathir Mohamad and others following a political crisis, he founded Muda, a youth-centric party. It aims to be the base of young Malaysian voters following the lowering of the voting age to 18.

But his party’s political fortunes withered, suffering from a lack of leadership after he quit as president following his conviction. Syed Saddiq said then that he did not “deserve the role” while he fought to clear his name in court.

The party has announced it will hold a central executive meeting later on Wednesday to discuss what role the young lawmaker would play in its future.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said it would appeal the decision.