KUALA LUMPUR - The corruption trial of former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik has been moved to Aug 1 after the High Court here granted an application by the prosecution to postpone the case.
Justice Ahmadi Asnawi allowed the postponement after the prosecution said they needed more time to declassify documents.
At the outset of court proceedings, DPP Datuk Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah applied for a two-month adjournment on grounds that there were 23 Cabinet minutes of meetings dated between March 24, 1999 and July 4, 2007 which had not been declassified.
He said there were information in the Cabinet papers that could not be published and declassified and it was up to the ministries to do so.
He said the prosecution had obtained clearance from the Cabinet over the documents.
"The ministries still have to study parts (in the Cabinet papers) which cannot be declassified,' he told Justice Ahmadi.
He said the process to declassify the documents would take time due to certain regulations.
Asked by Justice Ahmadi, Tun Abd Majid said the prosecution had obtained general approval for the 23 identified Cabinet's minutes of meetings and had delivered 155 documents to the defence.
However, lead counsel Wong Kian Kheong said Dr Ling, who has served as minister for 17 years, wanted the prosecution to expedite the process of declassification of the documents.
Dr Ling, 67, is charged with cheating the Malaysian government by misleading the Cabinet on the land acquisition for the mega distribution hub project in Port Klang.
According to the main charge, he is alleged to have deceived the Malaysian government between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002 by deceiving the Cabinet into agreeing on the land purchase in Pulau Indah for the mega distribution hub project in Port Klang according to the terms agreed to between Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and Port Klang Authority.
The Star
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