Former cabinet minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir told the court today that his former cabinet colleague, Ling Liong Sik, was of good character, only to discover that he may face an impeachment charge for saying so.
Abdul Kadir, a defence witness, told the court that Ling was “humble” and had integrity. He added that as far as he was aware, Ling did not do anything wrong when they were both in cabinet.
"As far as I know, he always been humble, has integrity in his work,” testified Abdul Kadir, 74, who has been an member of parliament for five terms.
He said this when responding to defence lawyer Wong Kian Kheong, who had sought Abdul Kadir's opinion on his client's character.
Abdul Kadir, a defence witness, told the court that Ling was “humble” and had integrity. He added that as far as he was aware, Ling did not do anything wrong when they were both in cabinet.
"As far as I know, he always been humble, has integrity in his work,” testified Abdul Kadir, 74, who has been an member of parliament for five terms.He said this when responding to defence lawyer Wong Kian Kheong, who had sought Abdul Kadir's opinion on his client's character.
"I've known him for almost 30 years, he has never made a mistake," he said.
At one point, judge Ahmadi Asnawi questioned the appropriateness of the question to which Wong replied that his question, which attempted to establish if his client was of good character, was permitted by the law.
Right before court was adjourned, lead prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah informed the court that his team will seek to impeach the witness.
"The first thing I am going to do tomorrow is impeach the witness," he said, without stating the reason.
Normally, a witness' testimony would be compared to the statements given to the investigating officer.
Ling is being tried for violating Section 418 of the Penal Code on allegations of cheating the cabinet in 2002 over the actual value of the land used to for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).
'Not interested in the matter'
At one point, judge Ahmadi Asnawi questioned the appropriateness of the question to which Wong replied that his question, which attempted to establish if his client was of good character, was permitted by the law.
Right before court was adjourned, lead prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah informed the court that his team will seek to impeach the witness.
"The first thing I am going to do tomorrow is impeach the witness," he said, without stating the reason.
Normally, a witness' testimony would be compared to the statements given to the investigating officer.
Ling is being tried for violating Section 418 of the Penal Code on allegations of cheating the cabinet in 2002 over the actual value of the land used to for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).
'Not interested in the matter'
Abdul Kadir told the court the police had "interviewed" him last year once for half an hour, but he told the authority that he had forgotten about the case.
The witness also claimed he couldn't verified the accuracy of the 16 copies of the abstracts of cabinet meeting minutes shown to him, without comparing with the full set of the minutes and the relevant audio version.
However, when referred by the defence counsel with official valuation produced by Valuation and Property Service Department (JPPH) in 2000, Abdul Kadir claimed the 7.5% interest was over and above of RM1.8 billion land price, or RM25 per square foot (psf).
Abdul Kadir also complained about the "plight" of a cabinet minister, when it came to the relationship with his officers, particularly in preparing ministerial documents.
"(I) was forced to stay close with them as the area I was in charge of was large. I have no time to go into details and (do the) statistics, I have to rely on my officers," he said.
He said he depended on his officers for the accuracy of the content of documents.
The witness, when crossed examined by the prosecution, insisted he had forgotten about the land acquisition detail of Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) as he didn't pay attention to the matter when raised at the cabinet meeting.
"I can't remember, usually (a cabinet) memo like this consisted technical (terms). I was not interested, it was not related to my ministry," he argued.
The defence counsel also informed the court that, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be called to take the witness stand on Monday at 3pm.
The trial will resumes tomorrow with Abdul Kadir's impeachment. The former tourism minister has yet to complete his testimony.
The witness also claimed he couldn't verified the accuracy of the 16 copies of the abstracts of cabinet meeting minutes shown to him, without comparing with the full set of the minutes and the relevant audio version.
However, when referred by the defence counsel with official valuation produced by Valuation and Property Service Department (JPPH) in 2000, Abdul Kadir claimed the 7.5% interest was over and above of RM1.8 billion land price, or RM25 per square foot (psf).
Abdul Kadir also complained about the "plight" of a cabinet minister, when it came to the relationship with his officers, particularly in preparing ministerial documents."(I) was forced to stay close with them as the area I was in charge of was large. I have no time to go into details and (do the) statistics, I have to rely on my officers," he said.
He said he depended on his officers for the accuracy of the content of documents.
The witness, when crossed examined by the prosecution, insisted he had forgotten about the land acquisition detail of Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) as he didn't pay attention to the matter when raised at the cabinet meeting.
"I can't remember, usually (a cabinet) memo like this consisted technical (terms). I was not interested, it was not related to my ministry," he argued.
The defence counsel also informed the court that, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be called to take the witness stand on Monday at 3pm.
The trial will resumes tomorrow with Abdul Kadir's impeachment. The former tourism minister has yet to complete his testimony.
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