Zahid is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Oct 7, 2021. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is seeking the temporary release of his impounded passport so he can travel to Germany for medical treatment.
His lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh made the application in the High Court here today, saying his client needed to be treated for his pain from a leading specialist in Germany.
“Because the accused has been suffering from back pain and neck pain from before.
“We are making this application to allow the accused treatment to the effect where it is effective and that is required,” he said, adding that the current pain treatment available in Malaysia was not enough for Ahmad Zahid.
The application was filed on Oct 4, and came up for case management today.
Deputy public prosecutor Gan Peng Kun told the court that “the prosecution has instructions not to object to the application”.
Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said he would make an order on this application next Monday.
Collin is also the trial judge presiding over Ahmad Zahid’s 47-criminal charge case.
Hamidi told the court that a similar application for passport release has also been made to the High Court in Shah Alam, where Ahmad Zahid is facing a separate corruption trial involving 40 charges.
Later when asked by reporters, Hamidi confirmed that the application is for the passport to be released on Oct 26, and to be returned on Nov 21.
Previously, Ahmad Zahid was said to have suffered a fall on Aug 18, and was admitted to a private hospital on Aug 22 due to injuries from the fall and was discharged on Aug 26. He was also on medical leave until Sept 4.
On Aug 24, which was when Ahmad Zahid’s trial in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur was scheduled to continue, he was not present in court, with his lawyer explaining that he could not attend due to severe neck pain and could not sit for a long time.
Ahmad Zahid’s doctor later told the court that his client had on Aug 24 undergone treatment for his pain and disagreed that his client had faked his illness to avoid attending court.
Ahmad Zahid’s passport had been surrendered to the courts since he was first charged in October 2018.
Back in 2019, Ahmad Zahid had also applied to the court for the temporary return of his passport to enable him to travel to Saudi Arabia between May 9 and June 3 to perform umrah or for a Muslim pilgrimage trip.
But the High Court on May 3, 2019 had rejected the application then as such a trip was not compulsory and as Ahmad Zahid was facing serious charges in the trial, with the Court of Appeal on May 14, 2019 and the Federal Court on May 23, 2019 also dismissing his appeals against the High Court’s decision. — Malay Mail