A lawyer for former Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, Amer Hamzah Arshad questioned the timing of his client's arrest and charge today and said he hoped that this was not politically motivated.

Amer Hamzah, in a statement, said the Kota Kinabalu High Court was scheduled to decide on Wednesday afternoon, on who is the rightful Sabah chief minister.

“Why arrest him now, just before the High Court is set to deliver its decision? I hope that this is not some ploy to prejudice Musa in the eyes of the Kota Kinabalu High Court."

He said the Kota Kinabalu High Court has fixed Nov 7 to deliver its ruling on Musa's originating summons for a declaration that he is the lawful chief minister.

“Musa’s arrest will not affect his eligibility to act as Sabah’s chief minister since he has not been convicted of any criminal charges. Notwithstanding this, Musa is innocent and will vigorously defend against any and all charges put against him," said the lawyer.

“The charges are based on allegations made 10 to 14 years ago. The timing of the charges smell of selective persecution. As such, I hope that the courts will not be prejudiced or influenced by the MACC’s politically convenient arrest of my client and he looks forward to vindicating his good name soon.”

Today, Musa claimed trial to 35 counts of graft for allegedly receiving kickbacks to the amount in excess of US$63 million (more than RM263 million) to award timber concessionaire to 16 companies.

Musa posted the first portion of his RM2 million bail, that is RM1 million, today and he was released at 4:45pm with the remainder due on Wednesday.