Justice Mohd Nazlan Sends Isa Samad To 6 Years Jail

 

• Isa Samad found guilty by High Court on 9 charges involving RM3m
• sentenced to 6 years jail, fined RM15.45m
• granted stay of execution of sentence, pending appeal 
• If Mohd Isa’s appeal set aside and fails to pay RM15.45m fine, additional 18-years
• According to Justice Nazlan, Isa’s defence an afterthought, inconsistent, baseless
• Isa had failed to rebut his charges 
• Justice Mohd Nazlan said Isa’s defence was mere denial 
• defence failed to raise reasonable doubt 
• case beyond reasonable doubt against accused
• accused guilty and convicted of offences Justice Mohd Nazlan said

High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ordered bail RM1.5m 
Isa already paid RM800,000, pay remaining RM700,000 Feb 4 afternoon

• Isa accused of receiving RM3.09m bribes between July 21, 2014 and Dec 11, 2015 
• Isa accused of receiving money through Muhammad Zahid Md Arip 
• Isa trial started on Oct 8, 2019
• 22 prosecution and six defence witnesses testified in the trial

My Comments :  

Well a very big thank you to Justice Mohd Nazlan on another job well done. Congratulations are also due to the Goverment that the wheels of justice are moving. Most people, including those who disagree with this government, are happy with Isa's conviction along with Najib's 72 year jail term as well.

From what I understand of these criminal cases the Prosecution first must prove its case in Court. At that point in time the accused is still deemed 'innocent until proven guilty".

Once the Prosecution has finished pesenting their witnesses and their evidence, the Court must decide if the 'Defense should be called' ie whether the case should be thrown out or if indeed there is a case and the accused should defend himself. 

The moment 'defence is called' then it means the Court has already found the accused guilty (at least temporarily). Now it is no more 'innocent until proven guilty'. It becomes 'guilty until you prove that you are innocent'. Hence the statement by the Judge :  

• Isa had failed to rebut his charges 

Despite being transferred recently to the Civil Court it looks like Justice Mohd Nazlan is still tidying up his cases in the Criminal Court. Congratulations are due to the wise Judge on another job well done. 

Isa received the bribe in 2014, his trial began in 2019 and he has been convicted in 2021. It takes seven years between happy happy time and Go To Jail. 

I hope this will serve as a lesson to all the other corrupt people. It may take years but eventually the law will catch up. You will go to jail. Going into the future I foresee that there will be a clamour to reinvestigate even old cases - from 10 years ago or 20 years ago. There is no Statute of Limitations on crime anymore. So for all those who have been corrupt even 20 years ago, one day there will be that knock on the door. Try to sleep on that tonite ok.

Here I must congratulate the government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for taking action and moving all these cases through the Courts. 

Najib has been sentenced to jail. Tengku Adnan has also been sentenced to jail. What does this mean? It means that the Prime Minister is not afraid of retaliation if for example there is a change in government in the future. Which is not impossible given the changed political scenario in the country. Najib, Isa and Ku Nan are all Umno stalwarts - the uneasy partner that is not too happy with its position in Government. 

Despite this, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is going ahead with all Court actions against these corrupt people. 

(May I apologise upfront if I come across that the PM is conducting a crusade or vendetta - which I am not implying at all - because the Courts and the AGC are independent of the government but n'theless the people are grateful to the Government under whose watch these people are being sent to jail.) 

It is interesting to see the Judge's reasoning. These are all really easy cases. There is nothing complicated about these cases. The Judge said Isa's defense was an: 

afterthought, inconsistent, baseless, mere denial

Similar to the Najib defence - all baseless, an afterthought and if I may add, unbelievably stupid.   

Hello Tan Sri dan Dato Seri yang corrupted please listen carefully - these are corruption trials. Not murder cases. In murder cases once the victim is made to disappear then it becomes more difficult to prove the case. But it is different in corruption trials.

Once you receive the money there is a documentary trail. Especially if the money was moved through the banks. The Policeman can get away with taking a RM50 bribe because it is cash. More difficult to prove. 

But there is no way that other idiot could have received RM2.6 billion in cash. Even a 40 Foot container will not be enough to hold RM2.6 billion cash. Of course if you had managed the economy properly and the Ringgit had been RM2.50 to the USD then it may be possible. But they received the money in their bank accounts. Everything is recorded. End of story. 

So to all you Tan Sris and Dato Seris who are corrupt, if you have taken bribes, it is just a matter of time. No point going for umrah or Mecca ok.  It does not help at all - (believe me I have inside information). You are going to jail. One day there will be a knock on your door. 

The best thing you can do is go to the AG's office, confess your crimes and return what you have taken. That may save you from jail time. Najib's appeal is coming up soon - this month February 2021?? 

The long suffering people are confident that justice will be upheld.  

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.