KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be able to attend the campaigning for the upcoming Sabah state elections in September, as three days initially fixed for his corruption trial then have been vacated to enable him to do so.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur also fixed additional trial dates that will run until March 2021.
Zahid's lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh today informed the High Court that the defence had previously agreed that September 21 to 25 would be suitable trial dates, but noted that the recent developments with a state-wide election announced in the second largest state in Malaysia in September meant that Zahid would likely not be able to be present for trial in Kuala Lumpur.
"The Sabah state election is on September 26. September 21 to 25 would be the week (before), so unforeseeable he will be in KL while having election, so we may not take those dates September 21 to 25," he told the court, noting that the court would still be able to hear the trial on the pre-scheduled dates of September 28 to 30.
High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah however noted that the September dates were fixed earlier and that it is "very hard to get dates" for trial. Trial dates are usually fixed based on common days when the prosecution and defence lawyers are available, as well as when the court is not hearing other cases.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran then said: "The dates, as Your Lordship pointed out, have been fixed very much earlier and I don't know the extent of his involvement, the accused's involvement in the state election, so I think we should stick to these dates."
While acknowledging the challenge in scheduling trial dates, Hamidi then pointed out that Zahid is the head of the registered coalition Barisan Nasional and his presence in Sabah is vital as September 21 to 25 is the last week of campaign with all campaigning required to end by midnight of September 25.
Hamidi then suggested that Zahid's trial continue on from September 21 to 22, before being vacated for three days from September 23 to September 25.
Zahid's lead defence lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik also informed the court that he would be handling other cases in the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court on September 23 and September 24.
After hearing the arguments, the judge agreed to have Zahid's trial resume on September 21 and September 22, with the trial not taking place on the three dates of September 23 to September 25.
Today, the High Court added the additional trial dates for this year of October 12 to 14, October 26 to 28, November 16 to 19, November 30 to December 3.
As for next year, the additional trial dates fixed today are January 18 to 21, February 22 to 25, March 8 to 11, and March 22 to 25.
In this trial, Zahid ― who is also a former home minister and former deputy prime minister ― is facing 47 charges, namely 12 counts of criminal breach of trust in relation to charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money-laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges.
Today was the 40th day of his trial. The trial had started since November 18, 2019, with proceedings previously disrupted due to the movement control order (MCO) amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In May, the High Court had fixed trial dates from June until September 21 to 25 and September 28 to September 30.
Last week, the Election Commission announced that the Sabah state election will be held on September 26, with a two-week campaign period from September 12 to 25.
The trial will resume next on September 21, when Zahid's lawyers are expected to continue cross-examining the 90th prosecution witness Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly.
