The prosecution in the misappropriation trial of former Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman today failed in their bid to call editors of several news outlets and the Muar MP’s communication lead Farhan Iqbal to the stand.
Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin claimed a purported audio recording was leaked to news outlets Astro Awani and Sinar Harian.
He also alleged Farhan broke the rule of sub judice which prevents a person from commenting on and disclosing judicial proceedings.
However the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the press is free to report on court proceedings and that the public is free to reasonably comment on them.
“As far as the press is concerned, they are free to report what goes on in the court, it is an open court.
“As far as comments that are public, we cannot stop the public from making whatever comment. It is enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” said judicial commissioner Azhar Abdul Hamid.
Earlier, Wan Shahruddin insisted the editors of Astro Awani and Sinar Harian present themselves at court tomorrow to reveal the source of the alleged leaked recording.
He also called Farhan, who was present in the courtroom, to the stand to explain the reason behind his tweets.
"The owner of the Twitter account definitely (committed) sub judice, he played the role of the prosecution, the role of defence, and played judge," he alleged.
‘We are still a democracy’
Speaking on the issue of sub judice, defence counsel Ambiga Sreenevasan maintained that the rule was only relevant in jury trials, which have been abolished.
Labelling it a “slippery slope”, she said despite members of the public being allowed to express freedom of speech, the prosecution lodges a report every time something upsets them.
“It is an intimidation, and it has to stop. Whatever needs to be resolved can be resolved in court.
“...But my concern is, that you are now saying members of the public cannot open their mouths. When has that been the law?
“The last I checked, we are still a democracy, we still believe in freedom of press (and) in freedom of speech.
“So threatening this young man who had made a comment, insisting the court calls him up (to the stand), where is this taking us?” she said.
She reminded the prosecution that the court proceedings are a matter of public interest.
“This is a prosecution you launched, and it is a matter of public interest. If there are reasonable comments made, you just have to accept that as a right for members of the public to comment,” she added.
Report on audio recording lodged
Earlier today, an MACC officer filed a police report against Astro Awani, Sinar Harian, and Twitter user Farhan Iqbal (@lamkanahraf) for allegedly tarnishing the reputation of the MACC.
In the report, sighted by Malaysiakini, Mohd Ihsan Sapuan called for a police investigation on how the transcript for the audio recording could fall into the hands of these parties when it had not been tendered in court.
Ihsan is also the purported individual involved in the one-hour recording of a conversation that allegedly took place at Syed Saddiq's (above) house at Petaling Jaya, Selangor on July 12 last year.
Part of the transcript was read out by lead defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo yesterday, which claimed Ihsan said Syed Saddiq did not abide by certain requests from unspecified people from above.
To this, the accused allegedly said he is not ‘pencacai politik’ and refused to sign any Statutory Declaration (SD) to support then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Another part of the transcript read out by Gobind contained Ihsan allegedly admitting the MACC had become a victim and a tool when the Pakatan Harapan government was replaced with Perikatan Nasional two years ago.
Yesterday’s witness, MACC investigating officer Syahmeizy Sulong, testified he had no idea whether an MACC officer known only as “Ihsan Sapuan” had ever met Syed Saddiq to express sympathy to the accused over the investigation against the lawmaker.
He confirmed, however, that an officer with that name does exist in the MACC.
The court later allowed the one-hour audio recording of the alleged conversation to be played out, and then allowed it to be labelled as an IDD rather than be tendered as an exhibit.
Under the trial procedure, an IDD or Identified Document has less weight for court consideration in a case compared to a full tendered exhibit.
It is not known at present whether Ihsan would be called as a witness in the trial.
Proceedings before trial judicial commissioner Azhar Abdul Hamid will resume this afternoon and tomorrow morning.
The four charges
Syed Saddiq is on trial over four charges.
In one of the four charges, namely for criminal breach of trust (CBT), Syed Saddiq, 29, is accused of withdrawing RM1 million via a CIMB Bank Berhad cheque in his capacity as then Bersatu Youth chief without the permission of the party’s supreme council.
He was purported to have committed the offence at CIMB Bank Berhad, Menara CIMB KL Sentral, Jalan Stesen Sentral 2, Kuala Lumpur, on March 6, 2020.
The CBT charge is framed under Section 405 of the Penal Code and is punishable under Section 406 of the same law, which provides a jail term of up to 10 years, with whipping and a fine as well, upon conviction.
Syed Saddiq was also charged with misusing RM120,000 in contributions for the 14th general election campaign raised through a Maybank Islamic Berhad account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE) at Maybank Islamic Berhad, Jalan Pandan 3/6A, Taman Pandan Jaya, between April 8 and 21, 2018.
He may be imprisoned for up to five years, with whipping and a fine as well, if found guilty of the offence framed under Section 403 of the Penal Code.
He was also charged with two counts of money laundering, involving two transactions of RM50,000 alleged to be proceeds of unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Berhad account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account at a bank in Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru, on June 16 and June 19, 2018.
These charges fall under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which are punishable under Section 4(1) of the same act, providing maximum imprisonment of 15 years and a fine not less than five times the amount, or the proceeds of the illegal activities. - Mkini
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