KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah emphatically said that he will not be dictated to on what cases to prioritise after a letter from the prosecution in connection with Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial was shared on the internet.
At the start of hearing this morning, lead defence lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik told Sequerah that the prosecution office had sent a letter dated August 29 to the High Court judge seeking priority for Zahid’s case.
But immediately, deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob said his team had been “instructed to retract the letter we sent yesterday, so there's no such application anymore” and apologised.
After Abdul Malik retracted the letter, Sequerah remarked that the High Court will just proceed with trial on the hearing dates which had been fixed previously.
“In any way, the court will proceed on dates already fixed, and I don’t think the court can be dictated as to what case to hear, what case not to hear, which case to give priority, which case not to prioritise.
“It’s the prerogative of the court, so the court will proceed with the dates fixed,” the judge had said immediately before Abdul Malik apologised.
Hisyam interjected, saying the letter could be interpreted as pressuring the judge “to finish the case as fast as possible”.
The judge then indicated the court would in any event not be “influenced” by such matters.
After listening to both sides, Sequerah indicated that Zahid’s trial should continue.
Defence lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh then stepped up to re-examine Ahmad Zahid.
Today marks the 17th day that Ahmad Zahid is testifying as the first defence witness.
Ahmad Zahid ― who is also a former home minister and current Umno president ― is facing 47 charges, namely 12 counts of criminal breach of trust in relation to RM31 million charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money-laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges over RM21.25 million of alleged bribes.
The alleged August 29 letter was said to be from the Attorney General’s Chambers where Abdul Malik told the High Court that he was instructed to apply to the judge for Ahmad Zahid’s trial to take priority over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial that was also being heard before the same judge.
In this purported letter which has been retracted, Abdul Malik explained that this was to enable the hearing of Ahmad Zahid’s trial which was already at the defence stage to be resolved fast.
In Ahmad Zahid’s trial, it has already entered the defence stage where Ahmad Zahid is the first defence witness and where his lawyers intend to call 43 defence witnesses.
In the 1MDB trial where former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is facing 25 charges over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds, it is still in the prosecution stage where the prosecution had as of June said it would plan to call 20 more prosecution witnesses.
For criminal trials, there is the prosecution stage where the prosecution would call witnesses and present evidence before the court decides if the accused should be called to enter defence.
If the accused person is called to enter defence, the accused can testify in his or her own defence and call defence witnesses and present evidence, before the court decides on whether the accused person is guilty of the charges. That would then mark the end of the trial.
As Sequerah is hearing both Ahmad Zahid’s trial and Najib’s 1MDB trial, there are occasionally times when hearing dates for both cases overlap.
For example, this week there were overlaps between Ahmad Zahid’s trial involving the 47 charges and Najib’s 1MDB trial involving the 25 charges, with hearing dates for both cases having been scheduled on this Monday and Tuesday.
At the end of the hearing for the 1MDB trial last Thursday (August 25), the judge Sequerah himself had on his own initiative noted that there were overlaps in the hearing dates.
“Double parked Monday and Tuesday this case with Datuk Seri Zahid’s case, so I think I’m carrying on with that case, Datuk Seri Zahid on that day, because it’s double-parked,” the judge had openly told the prosecution and Najib’s defence team in the 1MDB trial in open court.
The 1MDB trial’s lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram then noted that defence had already been called and is going on in Ahmad Zahid’s case and also suggested that the judge could give precedence to that case for Monday and Tuesday (August 29 and August 30).
After confirming with the prosecution about the other previously scheduled trial dates for the 1MDB case (namely including September 5 to 8), the judge had then said last Thursday: “I’m going to vacate Monday and Tuesday this case, we meet again on September 5.”
It is common for judges to confirm the next hearing dates after court proceedings end for the day, as hearing dates need to be when the judges, lawyers for both sides and accused person are available at the same time. It is also common for the courts to schedule trial dates months or weeks in advance, as what has been done for these two cases which had overlapping dates.
This is not the first time that courts have given precedence to other cases which have progressed further, as it has happened before for Najib’s cases for example.
Najib himself would also sometimes have overlapping hearing dates for his different trials heard before different High Court judges.
As his presence is required during hearing as part of an accused person’s right to a fair trial, that would mean Najib could only attend one trial at a time when the hearing overlaps. In such instances of overlaps, different courts have also given precedence to ensure only one of Najib’s trials proceeds on the same day.
