Charge only if conviction is 90% sure, lawyer tells AG’s chambers

 

Former Felda director Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashi was freed of all 29 bribery charges after the prosecution withdrew them. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) should charge accused persons only if they have a water tight case and are “90% sure” of obtaining a conviction, a senior lawyer said.

Baljit Sidhu said any withdrawal before and during a criminal proceeding would invite a negative perception on the prosecution, which is the authority to determine if a person should be charged in the first place.

“The AGC should frame charges only if they are 90 % sure of obtaining a conviction. This can only come about if officers in the chambers go through the investigation papers thoroughly,” he told FMT.

Baljit said any “haphazard” act later would paint a negative perception that the AGC conducted selective prosecution and charged an accused person when investigations were incomplete.

The lawyer said this in response to a report that 29 corruption charges against former Felda board member Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashi had been withdrawn at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court on May 21.

This came about after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had investigated the defence statement of the accused under Section 62 of the MACC Act and was satisfied that all transactions made as stated in the charges were advances that had been fully repaid.

Baljit said MACC would have recorded a statement from a suspect who later could become an accused person during the initial stage of their probe.

“That statement would have determined if the person had run afoul of any law,” he said, adding that this case had dented the integrity of the AGC and MACC.

Another lawyer, A Srimurugan, said the court, MACC and the prosecution had wasted a lot of time and resources.

“The trial started in August 2019 and 24 prosecution witnesses were called. The accused, too,would have been under tremendous pressure from the day he was charged,” he said.

He said the AGC must explain why the charges were dropped or it would be open to speculation.

“The AGC is not legally obliged to do so but for the sake of accountability and transparency, a public statement is desirable,” he said.

Ehsanuddin was slapped with 14 charges of accepting a bribe of RM23,540.68 in instalments for a BMW 3 Series car from printing company Karya Hidayah Sdn Bhd in 2014 and 2015.

In the Johor Bahru sessions court, he faced 10 corruption charges, including over an alleged bribe of RM50,000 and a piece of land from the same company in 2013 and 2014.

He was also charged in the Shah Alam sessions court with five counts of accepting the maintenance charges for two vehicles and legal fee payment of RM12,707.60 for the purchase of a piece of land.

All the charges were heard together in the Kuala Lumpur sessions court. - FMT