SENIOR lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik is confident the final appeal decision of the prosecution tomorrow against the acquittal of Muar Member of Parliament, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, will be in favour of his client.
When contacted by Berita Harian, he stated that he expressed his confidence because his position as the respondent was based on facts and the law.
"The prosecution's appeal should have been dismissed. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal has given a very strong judgment," he said.
The final decision on the prosecution's appeal will be given by a panel of three Federal Court judges, chaired by the President of the Court of Appeal, Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Jais, sitting together with Federal Court judges, Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
The prosecution is appealing the Court of Appeal's decision on June 25 last year, acquitting and releasing Syed Saddiq, 33, after allowing his appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence of seven years' imprisonment, two strokes of the cane and a fine of RM10 million decided by the High Court on November 9, 2023.
The conviction and sentence are in relation to charges of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and money laundering involving funds from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia's youth wing, Armada.
Tomorrow's final decision will determine whether Syed Saddiq remains acquitted or whether his conviction and sentence will be reinstated.
The Federal Court's decision could also have a huge impact on Syed Saddiq's political career, because if the conviction is upheld, he is likely to be disqualified as a Member of Parliament and as an election candidate under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution.
The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, acquitted Syed Saddiq, after allowing the representative's appeal by finding that the charge of abetting criminal breach of trust he faced was unfounded.
The decision was reached by a three-judge panel led by Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, who sat with Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin.
Noorin, when reading the judgment, said the prosecution failed to prove Syed Saddiq's dishonest intention when giving the order for RM1 million to be withdrawn from ARMADA funds.
She said that the allegations of Syed Saddiq's dishonesty, which led to wrongful gain for him or wrongful loss for ARMADA, could not be proven.
She said that the High Court judge failed to assess the entire evidence presented, which led to an error in deciding to convict and sentence Syed Saddiq, and this required the court's intervention.
She said that the prosecution failed to present evidence that was not only credible but also strong enough and had high probative value to support the accusation of misappropriating RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE).
She said that there was no evidence linking the prosecution's case that the RM120,000 withdrawn belonged to ABBE or Syed Saddiq; therefore, there was no evidence that he misappropriated the money from ABBE's Maybank Islamic Bhd account.
The panel also found that since the court could not rely on the charge of misappropriation of RM120,000, the money laundering charge was also untenable.
The High Court sentenced him to three years' imprisonment and one stroke of whipping for abetting the commission of criminal breach of trust involving RM1 million of Armada funds.
Syed Saddiq was also sentenced to two years' imprisonment and one stroke of whipping for misappropriating RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise (ABBE).
In addition, he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of RM10 million for two counts of money laundering; the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently. – June 29, 2026
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