GUAN ENG TRIAL FIXED FOR 23 DAYS
It will start on March 26
THE trial of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon, charged with corruption, will begin at the High Court here on March 26.
Judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail yesterday fixed 23 days for hearing after both the prosecution and defence agreed to an early trial.
The dates are five days from March 26 to March 30, April 7 to April 12 (four days), April 23 to April 27 (five days), May 7 to May 10 (four days) and May 21 to May 25 (five days).
“This time, the trial must proceed with the prosecution’s case after it failed to take off last year.
“The prosecution will have to call at least five witnesses a day,” Hadhariah said.
Earlier, the prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Masry Mohd Daud, said they would present an amended charge for both Lim and Phang, with minor changes to the original charge.
“Since both accused are not in court today, the amended charges will be read to them in court on the first day of the trial.
“Copies of the amended charges will also be handed to the defence counsel today (yesterday).”
He also asked the court to fix an early trial, possibly next month, noting that the prosecution would call 40 witnesses.
Lead counsel for Lim, Gobind Singh Deo, and Datuk V. Sithambaram for Phang, agreed for early trial dates.
Sithambaram told the court that he had written to the Federal Court for minutes of the oral judgment on their application to declare Section 62 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act (MACC) 2009 as unconstitutional.
“The Federal Court had ruled that Section 62 was constitutional but had also stated that the defence was at liberty to submit additional evidence in its defence during the trial.
“We will submit the minutes of the oral judgment so that this trial can be heard in accordance with the judgment,” he said.
On June 30, 2016, Lim had claimed trial to using his public office or position to obtain gratification for himself and his wife, Betty Chew, by approving an application by Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd to convert agricultural land to residential purpose during a state planning committee meeting on July 18, 2014.
Lim had also claimed trial to using his position to obtain gratification by purchasing his house from Phang at RM2.8 million, which was below the property’s market value of RM4.27 million on July 28, 2015.
Phang, meanwhile, claimed trial to abetting Lim in regard to his purchase of the house on Pinhorn Road from her for RM2.8 million, which was below the market value, or RM4.27 million.
Their trial was initially fixed for March 27 last year.
It, however, failed to take off after the defence challenged the legality of Section 62 of the MACC Act, which requires the accused persons to disclose their defence statements to the prosecution before the beginning of the trial
On Dec 14 last year, the Federal Court ruled that Lim and Phang had to file their defence before the commencement of their corruption trial at the High Court.
A five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif had unanimously made the decision after allowing the MACC’s appeal against the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which stated that Section 62 of the MACC Act was unconstitutional.
Raus, in his judgment, had said that Section 62 of the MACC Act, was constitutional as the section does not preclude the defence from tendering additional documents during trial as provided under the Evidence Act.