Ahmad Zahid is seen at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept 4, 2023. — Malay Mail photo
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 4): The High Court today declined to grant a full acquittal to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi from all 47 charges in his Yayasan Akalbudi trial as asked by the defence.
Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah gave the order for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) after the prosecution said it would not continue the trial against Zahid.
“In the premises, and for the reasons given, this court makes an order for discharge not amounting to acquittal,” the judge said in delivering his decision.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar had applied for the DNAA when the trial resumed this morning, but the defence led by Datuk Hisyam Teh had pushed the court for a full acquittal instead.
A DNAA means an accused person can face trial for the same charges in the future if the prosecution decides to reinstate them.
This comes after Zahid’s lawyers’ Aug 24 statement, which had urged Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun to speed up his decision on Zahid’s application to have all 47 charges reviewed. Idrus’s contract as AG ends tomorrow, with Solicitor General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh to succeed him as AG this Wednesday.
On Dec 8, 2022 and Jan 25 this year, Zahid’s lawyers had sent representation letters along with documents numbering over 200 pages to the prosecution to ask the attorney-general to review the 47 charges against him.
The defence had claimed that there was “new evidence” in Zahid’s case, and that the investigation against him was “defective” due to the short four-month investigation period because of the alleged haste to charge him.
The defence also claimed that the prosecution against Zahid was political in nature.
Zahid, who is also Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, was facing 47 charges including for the dishonest misappropriation of his charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi.
The 47 charges are namely, 12 counts of criminal breach of trust in relation to over RM31 million of Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges of over RM21.25 million in alleged bribes.
Yayasan Akalbudi was founded with the purported objectives of receiving and administering funds for the eradication of poverty and enhancing the welfare of the poor.
Zahid’s trial began on Nov 18, 2019, and about 116 days of hearing have taken place since then.
After 99 prosecution witnesses testified in the trial, the High Court on Jan 24, 2022 ordered Zahid to enter defence on all 47 charges.
So far, Zahid and 14 other defence witnesses have testified, with his lawyers indicating last month of plans to call another 17 more defence witnesses.
The trial was initially scheduled to continue today.
The other hearing dates scheduled for the trial are Sept 5 to 7, Oct 31, Nov 1, Nov 17, Nov 20 to 24, Nov 27 to 29, Dec 4 to 7, and Dec 11 to 15. — Malay Mail