KUALA LUMPUR (March 5): The defence has closed its case in the long-pending graft trial linked to the late Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
The defence wrapped up its case after Bung Moktar's widow, Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad, 47, started and completed her testimony on Thursday.
In this case, Bung Moktar, who had been the non-executive chairman of Felcra at the material time, had been charged with accepting bribes of RM2.8 million from the agents through Zizie.
The prosecution claims that it was a gratification to obtain Felcra’s approval to make a RM150 million investment in Public Mutual unit trust.
However, following the former Kinabatangan parliamentarian's death on Dec 5 last year, the prosecution dropped its case against Bung Moktar and the politician as given a posthumous acquittal.
The case against Zizie, however, was maintained.
The defence had only called on two witnesses in total: Bung Moktar and Zizie.
In September last year, Bung Moktar took the stand in his defence and had completed his testimony before his demise. It is understood that the court can use Bung Moktar's testimony in reaching its decision in the case against Zizie.
For this case, the prosecution is represented by deputy public prosecutors Law Chin How and Fadly Zambry, while Zizie is represented by M Athimulan and Datuk K Kumaraendran.
Parties will now submit at the end of the defence before judge Rosli Ahmad on May 18. The court will then set a date for its decision.
Long and circuitous path prior to defence finally starting its case
The defence began its case after three years of applications and appeals challenging the Sessions Court's decision in early September 2022 for the duo to answer to the prosecution's case.
Then-Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob had ordered the duo to enter their defence, after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case.
Both the Mutual Fund agents — Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar and Madhi Abdul Hamid — who gave the monies, had testified in the prosecution's case.
However, their testimonies in open court contradicted the statements they had given to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Addressing the alleged contradiction in Madhi and Norhaili’s testimonies, Rozina had said that she had looked at the evidence in totality.
She said: “However, the court takes note of the contradiction, and after examining the evidence of the two accused carefully, the court has accepted the other evidence of the 24th and 25th prosecution witnesses presented in this court."
Duo succeeded in review of the Sessions Court's decision
Following this, the husband and wife had filed a review of this decision at the High Court.
High Court judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid then had allowed their application and acquitted the two on Sept 7, 2023. He said that after perusing the court's records, there was no evidence that the agents had given money to Bung Moktar through his wife.
The prosecution then appealed the acquittal, which the Court of Appeal (COA) allowed in November 2024.
COA sends case back to Sessions Court, says such applications a waste of 'precious judicial time'
In a unanimous decision, a three-member COA panel led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, along with judges Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, sent the matter back to the Sessions Court.
In a sternly worded decision, judge Zaini said that the husband and wife duo’s application was an "interlocutory appeal masquerading as a revision application".
He added that the lower court's findings can only be challenged at an appeal after the conclusion of the defence's case, not in the middle of the trial.
Among others, the panel also cautioned that such applications only disrupt a trial, "creating an insufferable situation" from numerous postponements.
"This will frustrate the progress of trials, wasting precious judicial time and public expense, and must be stopped," Zaini said.