The Malaysian Bar is seeking a court order to compel the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to reinstate all 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, corruption, and money laundering against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
According to news reports, the Bar has filed a judicial review application to challenge the attorney-general’s Jan 8 decision that no further action (NFA) would be taken in all criminal cases against the Umno president involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
The New Straits Times reported that the Bar claimed in court documents that the decision was “tainted by irrationality, was unreasonable, and contrary to public interest.”
The Bar also reportedly argued that the decision was made without adequate reasons or sufficient supporting material and was contrary to established prosecutorial guidelines.
“The decision was inconsistent with the High Court’s earlier ruling on Jan 24, 2022, which found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Zahid and ordered him to enter his defence on all charges.
“The said decision was contrary to public interest, in view of the dissipation of substantial judicial time and resources, as well as public funds.
“The decision to grant NFA was made without support from facts and evidence,” according to the statutory body representing over 25,000 lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia.
The Malaysian Bar’s application, filed by legal firm Abhilaash Subramaniam & Co at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, names the attorney-general and Zahid as the first and second respondents.
Defence called, charges dropped
On Sept 4, 2023, the High Court granted Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on 47 charges of corruption, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust.
The DNAA was granted pending further investigations by the MACC.
Free Malaysia Today reported that judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who presided over the trial, allowed the application despite having previously ruled that the prosecution had proven a prima facie case against Zahid.
The case was at the defence stage when the DNAA was granted, with Zahid and 14 other defence witnesses having already testified.
On Jan 8 this year, the AGC said that further detailed investigations had been carried out by the MACC, covering the source of funds, methods of acquisition, and use of the funds, including matters raised in six representations submitted after Zahid was called to enter his defence.
Subsequently, the MACC said that after reviewing all materials, new evidence, and the results of further investigations, including prosecutorial assessments, it found that the available evidence was insufficient to support the continuation of the prosecution on all charges.
On Jan 12, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar said the decision to classify Zahid’s corruption case as NFA was made only after carefully reviewing the six representations submitted by the Bagan Datuk MP.
On Feb 3, Zahid applied for a full acquittal after the AGC declared that no further action would be taken on the charges. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.