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PUTRAJAYA (Jan 29): The prosecution, in its appeal against the acquittal of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the foreign visa (VLN) case, informed the court that there is still no decision with regard to his representation letter for the prosecution to drop the appeal.
Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob, who appeared with Zander Lim, informed a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail that there was no decision, and hence asked that the court maintain the March 18 hearing date for the appeal fixed earlier.
“The prosecution would abide by putting in our written submissions at the stipulated dates,” Malik informed the bench.
Following this, Hadhariah, who was sitting with Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk SM Komathy Suppiah, then maintained the hearing dates.
Zahid was not present in court, but he was represented by his lawyers Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal and Hamidi Md Noh.
The Shah Alam High Court in September 2022 acquitted the Umno president of 40 counts of graft with regard to the VLN case, without calling his defence.
The 40 charges comprised 33 charges under Section 16(A)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, and seven charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
Judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa, who has since retired, ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case, and questioned the size of the brown envelope that Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd directors Harry Lee Vui Khiun and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani, as well as former administrative manager David Tan Siong Sun had purportedly used to deliver foreign currencies, mainly Singapore dollars, to Zahid.
Yazid further said that their evidence for the delivery of cash monies was not corroborated, as there were no CCTV recordings or pictures tendered, unlike in Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s corruption case, in which independent witnesses testified on the delivery of millions of cash in bags.
Subsequently, the prosecution filed an appeal against this decision, and during the last case management, the court fixed Monday for mention, and set the March 18 appeal hearing date.
Zahid had already been granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in August last year with regard to 47 counts of criminal breach of trust, graft and money laundering of Yayasan Akalbudi funds.