Ex-youth and sports officer denied fair trial, High Court hears

 Otman Arsahd’s lawyer argues that the sessions court judge did not evaluate all the prosecution’s evidence after taking over the trial.

Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali said there was no indication in the grounds of judgment or notes of proceedings that sessions court judge Kamarudin Kamsun had evaluated the prosecution’s entire case.

KUALA LUMPUR:

The High Court was told today that a former youth and sports ministry senior officer was denied a fair trial because the sessions court did not conduct a maximum evaluation of the prosecution’s evidence before finding a prima facie case against him.

Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali said there was no indication in the grounds of judgment or notes of proceedings that sessions court judge Kamarudin Kamsun had evaluated the prosecution’s entire case before finding that Otman Arsahd had a case to answer.

Rafique was making submissions in the hearing of Otman’s appeal against his conviction, 15-year jail sentence and RM284.2 million fine.

He said Kamarudin had taken over the trial from Azura Alwi, who heard the evidence of most of the prosecution witnesses.

Rafique argued that the defence found no indication Kamarudin had gone through the earlier notes of evidence, court recordings and transcripts, or the cross-examinations of witnesses whose evidence he had not heard himself.

“Where in the grounds of judgment can the evaluation of all the evidence be found? How did the sessions court judge (Kamarudin) arrive at a prima facie finding?”

Rafique said while the defence accepted that a judge could be replaced during a trial and was not challenging the legality of the change, the main question was whether Kamarudin had properly applied his mind to the prosecution’s entire evidence before deciding a prima facie case had been established.

He submitted that a failure to consider matters at the core of a case could amount to a misdirection and result in a miscarriage of justice.

“We are ultimately faced with a situation where no maximum evaluation took place. The failure to conduct a maximum evaluation deprived my client of the opportunity for a fair trial,” he said.

Otman was sentenced on July 6, 2023, to 15 years’ imprisonment and fined RM284.2 million after the sessions court found him guilty of 32 corruption and 64 money laundering charges. He was granted a stay of execution pending his appeal.

Deputy public prosecutors Haresh Prakash Somiah and Ashrof Adrin Kamarul appeared for the prosecution.

The appeal hearing before Justice Noor Ruwena Nurdin continues tomorrow. - FMT