Court Of Appeal Dismisses Bid To Consolidate Zahid S Cbt Charges

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The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal to consolidate Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s 12 criminal breach of trust charges, linked to Yayasan Akalbudi funds, into three
A three-person bench headed by Justice Yaacob Md Sam dismissed the appeal by the former prime minister during open-court proceedings today
“We are of the view that there is no appealable error of the High Court in this issue,” Yaacob said in delivering the unanimous brief oral judgment
The other members of the bench are Justices P Ravinthran and Ahmad Nasfy Yasin
Zahid (above) is appealing against the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision on Nov 8 last year, which dismissed his application to consolidate the 12 CBT charges into three charges
When met after proceedings today, Zahid’s counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik confirmed that the Court of Appeal has dismissed their appeal
On whether they will appeal today’s ruling to the Federal Court, Hisyam said he would consult with Zahid, who is also Umno president, on whether to do so
DPP Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi appeared for the prosecution, who is the respondent in today's matter
On Nov 8 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Zahid's application to consolidate the 12 CBT charges into three. Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah (photo) made the decision after finding that the 12 counts against Zahid are clear
Sequerah ruled also that the accused could understand the 12 charges for the purpose of preparing his defence, thus the issue of prejudice does not arise
Between Oct 19, 2018 and Feb 20, 2019, Zahid claimed trial at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to a total of 47 charges; 12 for CBT, eight for bribery and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi
The case was later transferred to the High Court, where it is on trial. The trial will resume on July 3. Meanwhile, earlier during submissions in today’s Court of Appeal proceedings, Hisyam argued that the 12 charges should be allowed to be consolidated into three in order to ensure fairness to Zahid, among others
The lawyer further submitted that the 12 charges must be consolidated into three charges in order to comply with Section 153(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which he contended is a mandatory requirement
Section 153 in general deals with the particulars of a charge as to time, place and person
Section 153(2) states that when the accused is charged with CBT or dishonest misappropriation of money, it shall be sufficient to specify the gross sum in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed, and the dates between which the offence is alleged to have been committed, without specifying particular items or exact dates, and the charge so framed shall be deemed to be a charge of one offence within the meaning of Section 164
Section 164 of the same code deals with situations where three offences of the same kind allegedly committed within twelve months, may be charged together
However, Sazilee countered that Section 153(2) is not a mandatory one and what matters is as long as the prosecution can prove every element of the charge, among others.  - Mkini

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