KUALA LUMPUR - Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has filed an application to be acquitted and discharged of 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering linked to Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
His lawyer, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said the application was filed at the High Court last Jan 28, naming the Public Prosecutor as the respondent.
"We are making the application based on the Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC) media statement dated Jan 8, which stated that no further action (NFA) would be taken on the 47 charges involving our client," he said.
Hisyam added that Zahid has been discharged not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for more than two years, leaving the charges hanging over him.
"It is unfair for the charges to remain unresolved for such a long period. He is seeking closure and the truth,” he said after the proceeding before High Court judge Nurulhuda Nur’aini Mohamad Nor here today.
He also said the application, together with a certificate of urgency, was submitted to the AGC on Jan 30, and the court has fixed Feb 24 for the hearing.
During today's proceedings, Deputy Head of Prosecution Division II Datuk Badius Zaman Ahmad told the court that the prosecution sought a postponement of the hearing, as the application had only been received last Friday (Jan 30).
"We are requesting a postponement as we need time to file a reply affidavit," he said, adding that the defence did not object to the request.
High Court judge Nurulhuda Nur'aini Mohamad Nor allowed the postponement and ordered the prosecution to file its reply affidavit by Feb 13, before fixing Feb 24 for the hearing of the application.
It is learnt that Zahid will be present during the hearing.
On Jan 8, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), in a media statement, said that there would be no further action (NFA) on the 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds faced by Zahid, after reviewing new materials and evidence.
Subsequently, on Jan 12, Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said the decision to classify the case as NFA was made only after the prosecution had carefully examined six representations submitted by the Umno president.
He stressed that the decision was not made arbitrarily, adding that the AGC would not classify any case as NFA without a thorough assessment of the facts, evidence and legal merits.
On Sept 4, 2023, the High Court here discharged not amounting to an acquittal Zahid on the 47 charges after the prosecution informed the court that it would discontinue proceedings.
The decision was delivered by then High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who has since been elevated to the Federal Court. - BERNAMA