Hearing of prosecution’s appeal against acquittal Sept 7

PUTRAJAYA: The prosecution’’s appeal against the acquittal of former Sabah Land Development Board ( SLDB) general manager Datuk Wasli Mohd Said on bribery charges would be heard on Sept 7 before a new panel of the appellate court.

A three- man panel of the Court of Appeal chaired by Justice Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh said the coram constituted to hear the matter today was not suitable and a new coram had to be reconstituted.

The two other judges presiding on the panel were Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil and Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal.

Mohd Zawawi said Justice Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil had handled Wasli’’s case when he was a deputy public prosecutor.

“Justice must be seen to be done. We have to reconstitute the coram. We give you another date then,” he said and fixed July 13 for case management.

On June 7, last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur acquitted and discharged Wasli, who was also former managing director of Sawit Kinabalu Bhd, on two counts of bribery involving RM1 million without calling for his defence.

Deputy public prosecutor Faizah Mohd Salleh appeared for the prosecution, while Wasli was represented by lawyer Sarah Maalini Abishegam.

Wasli, 68, was accused of offering a RM500,000 bribe to SLDB director John Liaw Chee Shing as an inducement for him to support the approval of the purchase of SLDB’’s shares in Sapi Plantations Sdn Bhd by his trading company Syarikat Briskmark Enterprise Sdn Bhd during its board meeting.

Wasli, of Putatan in Sabah, allegedly committed the offence at Hotel Fairlane in Jalan Walter Grenier here between 10.20am and 10.30am on Oct 22, 1996.

He was also charged with offering a RM500,000 bribe to SLDB director Michael Emban as an inducement for him to agree in its board meeting to a proposal for the sale of SLDB’’s shares in Sapi Plantations to Briskmark Enterprise.

Wasli was said to have committed the offence at the same hotel between 9.40am and 10.20am, also on Oct 22, 1996. — Bernama