GEORGE TOWN: After three months, the Penang High Court was again the centre of attention of many as the corruption case involving Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon over the purchase of a bungalow at below market value came up for mention yesterday.
Judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail set Dec 6 for further case management to enable the prosecution to complete its numerous documents and submit them to the defence team and the court.
Hadhariah said she did not want the trial to be delayed.
“My instruction is this. I want this trial to commence smoothly and (proceed) in a fast and speedy manner. Make sure every bundle of the documents are properly paginated. Let there be no more missing pages,” she said in a packed courtroom.
The judge said two months was ample time for the parties to complete the documents, which involved more than 10 volumes.
Earlier, lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, representing Lim, informed the court that the defence team received documents pertaining to the case from the prosecution on Sept 9, but they were not in order.
“The prosecution had served on the defence the CD containing various documents.
“The documents are of 13,000 pages but they are not in order and there is no indexing and some pages are not clear,” he said and asked the court to fix another date for further case management.
Deputy public prosecutor Masri Mohd Daud did not object.
Lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, representing Phang, suggested a period of two months for the parties to resolve the issue of the documents.
He also applied to the court to exclude Phang and Lim from being present on Dec 6 and the judge granted the request.
On June 30, Lim pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption in relation to the conversion of land from agricultural to residential and the purchase of a plot of land and bungalow at below market value.
Phang, who is the former owner of th e bungalow, had pleaded not guilty to obtaining the bungalow for Lim at below market price at the same place and date.
Phang, 44, was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code read together with Section 165 of the same Act, and which provides for imprisonment of up to two years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Before the court sat, Lim chatted with members of his family and several MPs.
A cloudy day and about 200 people and NGO representatives greeted Lim, his wife and other family members as they arrived at the courthouse at 9.15am.
Phang had come at about 8.30am.
Security was tight at the courthouse and only Lim, Phang, their family members, several MPs, the lawyers and DPPs were allowed into the courtroom.
Only a few reporters were allowed into the court.
The policemen on duty informed other reporters waiting outside the courthouse that they had instructions not to allow reporters in.
A section of the crowd outside carried banners and posters expressing support for Lim while several NGO representatives held up posters condemning the state government administration.
Police intervened to restore order after some of the protestors engaged in a war of words and almost started fist fights.
The opposing groups, which had gathered as early as 8am, dispersed at about 11am after the court proceedings ended.
North East District police chief ACP Mior Faridalathrash Wahid advised both sides to behave in similar situations in the future.
He said the police had come prepared for any eventuality, and had adequate manpower on the ground, inside and outside the courthouse. — Bernama