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| Friday, 13 February 2004 |
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Malaysian land minister gets bail on graft charge KUALA LUMPUR, Thursday (Reuters) A Malaysian minister pleaded not guilty on Thursday to graft charges over millions of dollars in share deals in the highest-ranking arrest since Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took office on a clean government ticket. Minister of Land and Cooperative Development Kasitah Gaddam, dressed in a suit and tie, looked calm as anti-corruption officials brought him into a packed Kuala Lumpur court. The 57-year-old pleaded not guilty to two counts of corruption and was granted bail of one million ringgit ($260,000) for a trial to be fixed at a later date. Abdullah, who came to office in October, has portrayed himself as a new broom sweeping through Malaysia since taking charge, ordering a crackdown on red tape and corruption in business, the government and the police. The high-profile arrest comes with a general election likely within months or even weeks. The charges against Kasitah said he abused his post as chairman of the Sabah Land Development Board in the eastern state on the island of Borneo for his own financial benefit. |
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