KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution is aggrieved by the Shah Alam High Court’s decision to acquit Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of 40 charges of accepting bribes involving the Foreign Visa System (VLN).
In the appeal petition filed yesterday (Dec 29), the public prosecutor as the appellant presented 14 reasons focused on the findings of fact and law made by Judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa on the question of whether there was bribery in the giving and receiving of money in the case.
The public prosecutor claimed that Judge Mohd Yazid erred in terms of facts and law when he ruled that he failed to prove a prima facie case and failed to fully assess the evidence to prove every element of the offense faced by the Deputy Prime Minister.
“The judge erred when he rejected the proof of the element of accepting bribes and the element of obtaining valuables without compensation from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) when there was sufficient and solid oral evidence and documents to prove it,” said the prosecutor to set aside the court’s decision made last Sept 23.
The prosecution also stated that the judge misdirected himself when rejecting the evidence regarding the delivery of bribes to Ahmad Zahid when comparing the facts between the case and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s bribery case regarding the hybrid solar project.
The prosecution alleges that the judge erred in assessing the credibility of the prosecution witnesses when he failed to take into account that they had no malicious or hidden motives when giving evidence about giving or sending money to the Deputy Prime Minister.
“The trial judge erred when he rejected the testimony of the prosecution witness not only on flimsy and unreasonable grounds, but also took into account irrelevant evidence, which was never presented and made a conclusion based on fabricated doubts.
“The judge erred when he failed to take into account the testimony of the prosecution witness that a ledger presented as document evidence was a current document and rejected it completely even though there was sufficient evidence to prove otherwise,” the prosecution claimed.
The prosecution’s appeal is set for case management on Jan 10 next at the Court of Appeal.
On Sept 23, Judge Mohd Yazid acquitted Ahmad Zahid, 69, who is also the UMNO President, after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against him.
Ahmad Zahid was charged with 33 charges of accepting bribes amounting to SG$13.56 million from UKSB for himself as Minister of Home Affairs to extend the company’s contract as a one-stop service center (OSC) operator in China and the VLN system and to maintain its contract agreement with the Ministry of Home Affairs for the supply of integrated systems VLN.
For the other seven charges, the Member of Parliament for Bagan Datuk is alleged to have obtained for himself SG$1,150,000 in cash; RM3.125 million; 15,000 Swiss Francs and US$15,000 from the same company known to be related to his official duties.
He is accused of committing all the offenses in Seri Satria, Precinct 16, Putrajaya and Country Heights Kajang between October 2014 and March 2018.
