Prosecution say Kadir had erred in law: Court of Appeal upholds Azmin’s acquittal

Malaysiakini

The Court of Appeal today dismissed the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of Gombak MP Azmin Ali for perjury in former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim’s corruption trial 10 years ago.

The appellate court upheld the decision of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Abdul Kadir Musa in 2007 to acquit Azmin (left).

Court of Appeal judge Md Raus Shariff, who led a three-member bench, said they were unanimous in rejecting the prosecution’s appeal.

“The court finds the evidence by the sixth prosecution witness, magistrate Azhar Othman, in the perjury trial had created doubts to the case,” Md Raus said.

“We are of the view the original Sessions judge made the right decision in not calling the defence and acquitting the accused. Hence, we uphold the High Court’s decision  on acquittal.”

Also on the bench were judges Ahmad Ma’arop and Sulaiman Daud. This was the final recourse of appeal for the prosecution, as the case originated from the Sessions Court, unless it seeks a revision of today’s decision.

Azmin, who is also the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyperson, was sentenced to 18 months’ jail after Sessions Court judge Akhtar Tahir found him guilty of making a false statement while testifying at Anwar’s corruption trial on March 9, 1999.

A state assemblyperson or member of parliament can be disqualified if he or she is fined more than RM2,000 by a court of law or jailed for more than a year.

Azmin, who was private secretary to then deputy premier Anwar (right), was initially acquitted and discharged by Sessions Court judge Hamdan Indah on July 13, 1999.

However, High Court judge Abdul Wahab Patail ordered Azmin to enter his defence.

On appeal against the conviction, High Court judge Abdul Kadir Musa ruled on Nov 1, 2007, that he was in agreement with Hamdan in acquitting Azmin.

Prosecution say Kadir had erred in law

Earlier DPP Manoj Kurup submitted Azmin was charged for saying: “saya mengatakan kepada majistret mengapa saya tidak boleh dilanjutkan tempoh tahanan kerana tindakan dan ugutan polis semasa dalam tahanan adalah terlalu kejam dan memaksa saya membuat pengakuan yang melibatkan Anwar” during the corruption trial.

(English translation: “I told the magistrate why my remand order should not be extended, as the threats and actions by the police while I was under arrest were inhumane and forced me to make an admission involving Anwar.”)

Manoj contended Azmin had not said this before the magistrate, resulting in Azmin being charged with perjury and sentenced to 18 months’ jail by Akhtar.

He said Kadir had erred in law and subsequently altered Abdul Wahab’s decision, and that Kadir completely failed to consider the decision – which was the actual subject-matter of the appeal – and instead addressed Hamdan’s decision.

Manoj also contended Kadir had gone on to speculate about the merits of Hamdan’s reasoning when this was not supportable on the facts and evidence.

Counsel CV Prabhakaran, who was assisted by Gurcharan Singh Sohan, said the prosecution must show where the false evidence took place and against what, by comparing the two statements.

“But in this case, the charge does not carry any statement which is said to be true as compared to the annexe, which is said to be false,” said Prabhakaran.

In the absence of such distinction, he said the charge was defective and vague.

He further said the magistrate had testified “saya anggap begitu” (it was so) to a question that, despite the non-mention of threat, Azmin had claimed he had been forced and threatened.

This he said proved what Azmin had claimed during Anwar’s trial.

“Kadir did not misdirect himself in law or fact when he decided that no prima facie case has been established against Azmin at the prosecution stage,” he said.

Azmin relieved

Azmin, who was accompanied by his wife Shamsidar Taharin, said he was relieved by the decision.

“I am glad that this is over after more than 10 years. I stand by what I said during Anwar’s trial that there was excessive force used by the police during my detention while in remand,” he said.

“The court has made its decision and we welcome (the fact) that there (has been) no political interference.”

Also present was Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff.