Kuala Lumpur, Oct 19 (IANS): The president of Malaysia's main opposition party, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, pleaded not guilty after facing 45 criminal charges in a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday.

The charges comprise 10 accusations of breach of confidence, eight of corruption and 27 of money laundering, reports Efe news.

Some of the charges concern the alleged appropriation of 800,000 ringgit ($192,424) from the Yayasan Akal Budi foundation that were used to pay the credit card bills of the politician, who blamed an error by the accountants.

The bribery charges relate to more than 42 million ringgit and the money laundering charges involve over 72 million ringgit.

The politician, the president of the United Malays National Organization, a party that ruled Malaysia from independence in 1957 until its defeat in the election in May, was granted bail of 2 million ringgit.

The 65-year-old former deputy prime minister was surrounded by several supporters in court, after spending the night in the Anti-Corruption Commission, where he testified on Thursday.