AG: I will review Daim’s prosecution after getting the death certificate

Friday 15 Nov 2024

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 13): Newly minted Attorney General Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said he would review the ongoing prosecution of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin following Daim’s sudden death on Wednesday morning.

Dusuki, who succeeded Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh who was appointed as a Federal Court judge on Tuesday (Nov 12), told The Edge in a brief text message that the prosecution was waiting for the death certificate of the late Daim.

“I will review first (on the ongoing prosecution). Normally, we will await the death certificate,” Dusuki said briefly.

Separately, Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecution head Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told The Edge to be patient on the prosecution’s next step.

Daim, 86, passed away at the Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya at 8.41am. A well-known finance minister and businessman, and a former Umno treasurer, Daim was pivotal in pulling the country out from the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990’s.

The Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife Tun Dr Hasmah Mohd Ali were among those who paid their last respects to Daim at his Bukit Tunku home, along with Deputy Prime Minister II Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

On Jan 29, Daim had pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to comply with an MACC notice to declare his assets, including several luxury vehicles, companies, and properties across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, and Kedah.

His widow, Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid, 66, was similarly charged on Jan 23 with failing to comply with a notice to declare her assets, which include Menara Ilham and several properties in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

They were both charged under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act, which carries a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of RM100,000 upon conviction.

Besides this, the MACC had Daim and his family’s assets frozen, including the iconic Ilham Tower near Kuala Lumpur City Center.

The High Court had on March 4 quashed an application by Daim, Na’imah, and their children for a judicial review of the MACC’s investigation into their finances, which had led to the freezing of various accounts they own and the seizure of Ilham Tower.

Daim was initially ordered to come to the Sessions Court next Wednesday (Nov 20), to ascertain his health condition.

His counsel Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar said at the last session that the defence wanted to refer to the High Court on whether Sections 32, 36, and 62 of the MACC Act infringed on the right against self-incrimination, and/or the right to not to be compelled to produce incriminating evidence to be used in a proceeding against oneself, and/or the right to fair trial, and therefore infringed on Articles 5, 8, and 121 of the Federal Constitution, and thus is unconstitutional and void.

Edited ByAniza Damis

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