KUALA LUMPUR – The high court hearing Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial will decide tomorrow whether to allow contentious parts of a defence witness’ statement to be read out.
The witness is Zahid’s former press secretary, Major General (rtd) Datuk Fadzlette Othman Merican Idris Merican, whose statement contained portions the prosecution wants expunged for being irrelevant.
High court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said he will deliver his decision at 11am tomorrow after hearing oral submissions by both the prosecution and the defence earlier today.
The prosecution had filed an application yesterday objecting to paragraphs 16 to 30 of Fadzlette’s statement, stating that those parts were aimed at damaging the credibility of the prosecution’s star witness, Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly, who was also Zahid’s former principal private secretary.
In today’s hearing, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran again argued that the contentious part of Fadzlette’s statement had touched on Mazlina’s work ethics and personal attitude towards coworkers.
Raja Rozela said this has nothing to do with the 47 charges against Zahid for misappropriating funds from the Yayasan Akalbudi charity, and that the court should not embark on collateral issues not pertaining to the case.
“As I have pointed out yesterday, there are other witnesses as well that will later be called and in which their statements will contain a similar style...a whole chapter on Major Mazlina just to pinpoint that, pardon my crude language, she is merely a lousy lady.
“So what has that got to do with the major facts in the issue here?” Raja Rozela said.
“Your lordship will see that the sole purpose of introducing this witness is to tell the court that Major Mazlina is not a good person, that she complains and whines about petty things and does not respect others, but the question is whether these issues are really relevant.”
Raja Rozela then pointed to Section 153 of the Evidence Act which states no evidence shall be given to contradict a witness who has been asked and has answered any question aimed at discrediting the witness by injuring his or her character, except for two exceptions.
In this regard, Raja Rozela stressed that Mazlina’s credibility had already been challenged during re-examination and cross-examination and should have ended at that particular stage.
At the start of today’s hearing, Zahid’s lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said that paragraphs 16 to 30 of Fadzlette’s statement were crucial to show Mazlina’s character and to challenge her impartiality as a witness.
“We say that she is biased, biased in the sense that she’s here in court on numerous occasions to give evidence against the accused person, her former employer under such circumstances, she is not objective.
“She had been called here by the prosecution and there’s a strong inference that can be made that she will not give evidence in a straight and objective manner,” he said.
Hisyam also stated that if the court were to decide against the defence, it would impair Zahid’s ability to put up an effective defence and deny his right to a fair trial.
In Zahid’s previous testimonies, he had said that Mazlina was “unprofessional” and “incompetent” in handling his personal payments.
Mazlina was previously tasked to manage Zahid’s personal account and that of Yayasan Akalbudi.
Zahid also claimed that he had to pay for the alleged “carelessness” of others, including Mazlina, who admitted in court that she had made several mistakes when managing both accounts for Zahid.
Mazlina, who is the prosecution’s star witness, had testified that she was negligent in making payments which exceeded the amount required for Zahid’s credit cards using the foundation’s cheques.
Zahid, 69, is facing 47 charges – 12 charges of criminal breach of trust, eight charges of corruption, and 27 charges of money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi. – The Vibes, September 20, 2022
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