Zahid should not be prosecuted for corruption charges, says lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told yesterday that there was no evidence against Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to suggest that he committed any misconduct involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) funds.

Ahmad Zahid’s lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said the accused should not have been prosecuted at all as the eight corruption charges (Charges 11 until 18) he is facing are based on the very poor quality of the evidence adduced.

“It is no coincidence that none of their (prosecution) star witnesses have testified that there is a corrupt element on the part of the accused,” he said.

Hisyam added that prosecution star witnesses Junaith Asharab Md Shariff, Abu Hanifah Noordin, Chew Ben Ben and Azlan Shah Jaffril had told the court that money given to Ahmad Zahid was meant for charity and political donation and not bribery.

“Out of all the four witnesses for the corruption charges, not a single one has said the money was corruptly given (to Ahmad Zahid).

“We find it very strange why the charges were filed … unless they (prosecution) can cite any case where a person is charged even though witnesses are saying that the money was not a form of bribe,” the lawyer said.

At this juncture, Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said irrespective of the intention of the witnesses, the contract was awarded and money was given to Ahmad Zahid.

Sequerah: Where the prosecution is coming from, it doesn’t really matter what the four witnesses said about their intention.

Hisyam: Donations and charity were innocent, not illegal under the law. Not a single witness said the money which was given to Ahmad Zahid is corruption money or bribery.

Hisyam further submitted that the witnesses maintained their words that whatever amount given to his client was a political or charitable donation.

Meanwhile, submitting on the 16th, 17th and 18th charges, Hisyam said there was no nexus found between the RM2 million to Ahmad Zahid and the appointment of Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd (PRSB) as the operator of One-Stop Centre (OSC) for Pakistan and Nepal visa processing centre by the Home Affairs Ministry (KDN).

Hisyam then referred the court to three cheque butts mentioned in the three charges which he said were “contemporaneous and carry great weight”. “On the cheque butts for the sums of RM300,000 and RM700,000, the word ‘charity’ was written while ‘Political donation for TPM’ was written on the RM1,000,000 cheque butt, all payable to law firm Lewis & Co which was the trustee of YAB (Ahmad Zahid).

“Azlan Shah (SP38) in his evidence, both given in examination-in-chief and in cross-examination, never said or made the slightest hint that these payments were rewards given to the accused for appointing PRSB as the operator of the OSC for both Pakistan and Nepal. In fact, he strongly denied they were rewards in the context of these charges,” said the lawyer.

Hisyam added that SP38 also confirmed during his testimony that no one instructed him to write ‘charity’ on the two cheque butts.

“In addition, SP38 said he wrote ‘Political donation for TPM’ on the RM1,000,000 cheque as it was meant to assist the government of the day for the nearing election season.

“Charges 16, 17 and 18 will fall flat to the ground,” said Hisyam.

Ahmad Zahid, 68, is facing 47 charges – 12 for CBT, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to YAB.

The prosecution will start its submission today.