Zahid to oppose Bar’s bid to challenge his DNAA in Yayasan Akalbudi case

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will challenge the Malaysian Bar’s filing for a judicial review of his discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in his Yayasan Akalbudi case.

Ahmad Zahid’s lawyer, Guok Ngek Seong confirmed the matter with Malay Mail when contacted.

“Confirmed. The affidavit will be filed soon together with submissions,” he said of the hearing fixed for January 11 at the High Court here.

Earlier this month, Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn said the lawyer umbrella body contends that the scope of the attorney general’s (AG) power under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution is not absolute, should be restricted in its scope and limit, exercised in a justiciable manner.

Article 145(3) of the Constitution confers power to the AG to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence.

Cheah said the legal body is seeking a court order to quash the AG’s September 4 decision on Ahmad Zahid’s application for a DNAA.

She said the Bar also wants the High Court to declare that the AG’s decision is null and void, and that it overstepped its authority under Article 145(3) of the constitution and Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In the reliefs sought, the Bar is seeking a court order for the AG to give the Bar all the information and basis it relied on in deciding to grant the conditional discharge, including the letters of representation Ahmad Zahid submitted to the AG.

It is also seeking an order for the AG to provide the Bar with information on the status of further investigations into Ahmad Zahid’s case, including any decision to file fresh charges, continue the trial or drop the investigations.

It also wants to have access to all court matters and documents related to the case.

In September, the prosecution decided to discontinue and drop the Yayasan Akalbudi trial against Zahid — which resulted in the High Court granting a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on Zahid for all 47 charges he faced.

Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah when delivering his decision in the High Court said that the prosecution had “given cogent reasons” it sought the DNAA.

This came after Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar explained that further investigations on Zahid’s case had to be carried out, following the representations from Zahid to the attorney general to ask for all 47 charges to be reviewed.

Zahid, who is also Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, faced 47 charges in this case, namely, 12 counts of criminal breach of trust in relation to over RM31 million of his charitable organisation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges of over RM21.25 million in alleged bribes.