The prosecution has filed a petition of appeal to overturn Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s acquittal in the foreign visa system (VLN) corruption case.
According to a report by FMT quoting a source, prosecutors filed the petition of appeal at the Court of Appeal yesterday.
The notice of appeal was previously filed on Sept 26.
Under the law, a petition of appeal contains the listed grounds to support the appellant’s case when the matter comes up for hearing before the Court of Appeal.
The source was also quoted as saying that the petition cited 15 grounds to reverse the acquittal at the end of the prosecution's case and for Zahid to be ordered to enter his defence in the VLN case.
The prosecution's appeal is fixed for case management before the Court of Appeal on Jan 10 next year.
On Sept 23, the Shah Alam High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the Umno president and its three key witnesses were unreliable.
The witnesses were former Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) administrative manager David Tan Siong Sun and former UKSB directors Harry Lee Vui Khiun and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani.
“Upon exercise of the maximum evaluation of the evidence in totality, I find that the prosecution has failed to make a prima facie case on all charges,” trial judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa said in his judgment.
Zahid, who is also currently the Rural and Regional Development Minister, was charged with 33 counts of receiving bribes from UKSB amounting to SG$13.56 million (RM43.6 million) between 2014 and 2017.
Another seven charges accused the Bagan Datuk MP of obtaining SG$1.15 million (RM3.125 million), RM3.125 million, 15,000 Swiss francs (RM70,000) and US$15,000 (RM68,000) from the same company.
Zahid was accused of receiving bribes to extend UKSB's contract to operate the one-stop centre (OSC) service in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain its contract with the Home Ministry to supply the VLN integrated system.
The charges were framed under Section 16 (a)(B) of the MACC Act 2009, which provides for a maximum of 20 years in jail and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
Zahid is still facing a separate trial for criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi.
That trial against the Bagan Datuk MP is at the defence stage. - Mkini
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