KUALA LUMPUR – Following a rebuke from high court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter issued an apology to the court for commenting on the corruption case involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid took to Instagram today, saying: “I would apologise to the court for the posting made. I should not share or comment on what transpired during the proceedings. It will not happen again.”
Sequerah also warned the public to not post any comments on social media concerning the ongoing trial as it could amount to sub judice and such comments cannot be made when the trial is ongoing.
The issue was brought up by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran, who told the court that Nurulhidayah posted statements on her father’s case yesterday, reported The Malaysian Insight.
“We ask the court to prohibit this author and all other would-be authors who want to make any comments about the proceedings.
“We take this very seriously. At this moment, I have not been instructed to initiate any contempt proceedings,” Raja Rozela was quoted as saying.
Nurulhidayah’s caption on her contentious post accused the prosecution of having amended the provisions of Section 30(7) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act on October 1, 2018 to continue the case against her father.
In response, Raja Rozela told the court that Nurulhidayah made a baseless accusation, implying that the prosecution “purposely deleted subsection 7 just to get at the accused person”.
Zahid, 68, faces 47 charges – 12 involving CBT, eight on corruption, and 27 on money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit in Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
For the 12 CBT charges under Section 409 of the Penal Code, Zahid is alleged to have used the funds to make payments for personal credit card bills, insurance policies, and licences for his personal vehicles, besides remittances to a law firm and contributions to the Royal Malaysia Police football association.
The defence will continue with its submissions.
If convicted, the accused is liable to a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher. – The Vibes, September 8, 2021
