The corruption trial of Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and his brother Abdul Latif scheduled for today has been postponed to tomorrow.
This is because the Umno lawmaker has to attend Parliament for voting on a Dewan Rakyat bill to lessen the impact of Covid-19 on the people.
His counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik informed the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court of the matter this morning during an application for trial postponement.
Today was set to be the first day of the duo's corruption trial.
“We apply for the case (trial) to begin tomorrow (instead of today) because the accused (Abdul Azeez) has to be present in Parliament for (debate and voting on the) government bill on the coronavirus at 11am.
“It was made compulsory for all government MPs to attend Parliament this morning,” Hisyam told judge Azura Alwi as the two accused brothers looked on from the dock.
DPP Aslinda Ahad then indicated to the court that the prosecution had no objection to the postponement application.
The bill in question is the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020, which was reportedly tabled for first reading on Aug 12.
Azeez’s co-counsel M Athimulan added that the second reason for the defence to seek the postponement is because they were only served with the witness statements of the prosecution witnesses last week.
Athimulan said that the defence team needed more time to go through the witness statements before the trial commences.
Under the law, witness statements of prosecution witnesses need to be served to the accused’s defence team 14 days before proceedings.
Azura allowed the trial to be moved to tomorrow morning.
The judge also directed the prosecution to ensure that all nine prosecution witnesses are ready to testify then.
Counsel Fudhail Zulaini appeared for co-accused Abdul Latif (above).
On Jan 16 last year, Azeez was charged with three counts of allegedly receiving bribes totalling RM5.2 million over road projects in Perak and Kedah, and nine counts of money laundering of more than RM140 million.
On the same day, Abdul Latif was charged with two counts of allegedly abetting Azeez to commit the corruption offences. - Mkini
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