PH politicians fall silent as another heavily criticised figure breathes freely again

There has been silence from Pakatan Harapan politicians, most of whom refusing to comment in the wake of the acquittal of Rosmah Mansor - for years the target of the coalition's leaders and their supporters who accused her of everything from witchcraft to corruption.

Rosmah, the wife of jailed former leader Najib Razak, was acquitted today by the High Court of 17 charges of money laundering and tax evasion, the latest in a series of reversals of fortune for people like her who have been the target of attacks by PH leaders, including Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Rosmah was charged with five counts of money laundering for failing to file a tax return for some RM7 million deposited into her bank account and 12 counts of engaging in transactions of the same amount involving proceeds of illegal activities.

Almost all PH leaders, who had targeted Rosmah in their speeches and election campaigns for more than a decade, refused to comment on the court decision when contacted by MalaysiaNow.

These include DAP's Tony Pua and PKR's Rafizi Ramli, who were the most vocal in PH's campaign against Najib and Rosmah, especially in the last two general elections.

Pua did not answer calls from MalaysiaNow.

Just two months ago, the DAP leader had sarcastically mocked Najib after the former prime minister apologised for the 1MDB scandal, but without admitting guilt over the huge money transfers from the sovereign wealth fund.

"I'm not responsible for US$27mil 22-carat pink diamond my beautiful wife purchased (and many more millions in jewelry and luxury goods). (Where is it hidden by the way?)" Pua wrote.

"I just have to say I'm sorry for being the stupidest and slowest PM of Malaysia, for trusting the wrong parties who cheated Malaysians of tens of billions of ringgit. I should not be sitting in prison, even though I benefited immensely from the 1MDB largesse, in cash and in kind. It's not my fault. Really."

One Amanah politician who did respond to MalaysiaNow is Sri Serdang assemblyman Abbas Salimmi, who said he believed today's verdict was reached without any outside  interference.

Abbas went on to say that the judge had considered all the facts and arguments presented.

Even before her husband's ouster in 2018, Rosmah was heavily attacked by senior PH politicians and their supporters for her oppulent lifestyle, as well as mocked with caricatures and satires showing her fondness for Birkin handbags and expensive jewellery.

Rosmah's acquittal comes days after former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman - also once charged with corruption and whose acquittal in 2020 was condemned by Anwar - was appointed governor of the state.

Last week, the government dropped its appeal against the acquittal of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his corruption case related to the management of foreign visa applications, resulting in the Court of Appeal dropping the case against deputy prime minister.

The Umno president had already successfully applied for all 47 corruption charges to be thrown out by the court after the prosecution requested for a discharge not amounting to acquittal, or DNAA.