Court to hear transfer bid for ex-spy chief case on Feb 21

The Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur has set Feb 21 as the new date to hear a transfer application for the criminal breach of trust case against former Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO) director Hasanah Abdul Hamid.

At the start of this morning's proceedings, Justice Rozina Ayob noted that the prosecution led by DPP Mohd Iskandar Ahmad had yet to hand over all supporting documents to the defence team, despite nearly three months having passed since Hasanah was charged last October.

"By right, this thing should have been done (earlier).

"We are not going to wait forever," said Rozina.

The judge also refused to make a ruling regarding a request from defence counsel Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz for the court to unfreeze Hasanah's bank account, which contained her pension deposits.

She added that the matter should be discussed with the prosecution and investigating officer.

Earlier, Iskandar had told the court that some of the remaining documents had to be obtained abroad.

Iskandar also said that the prosecution had filed an online application yesterday to transfer Hasanah's case to the High Court under Section 417 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

"So far, there's no indication on a case management date," he said.

According to court documents, the prosecution today handed over three more documents to Hasanah's defence team, on top of the 46 reportedly submitted so far.

The documents involve a DVD copy of a video shot at Shaftsbury Residences, Cyberjaya; a hard disk copy of CCTV recordings from MEIO's offices in the Prime Minister’s Department, Putrajaya; and a copy of presentation slides.

Met later, Khairul Azam told reporters he had been informed that some of the remaining documents had to be obtained abroad and involved government-to-government requests.

Hasanah was charged on Oct 25 last year with committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) in her capacity as MEIO director, which involved a sum of US$12.1 million belonging to the government.

She allegedly committed the offence at the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya between April 30 and May 9, 2018.  - Mkini