KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has subpoenaed a doctor from a private hospital to explain the medical condition of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi after the Umno president's no show in court today.
In issuing the subpoena, judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said he needed to find out from the doctor who is treating Zahid about the procedure the accused has to undergo and to ascertain the recovery period.
He said this was needed as the court could not afford any more postponements of the trial.
The court was today supposed to hear submissions at the end of the prosecution in Zahid's case over 47 charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit of funds from charity foundation Yayasan Akalbudi.
However, at the onset of the proceeding, Zahid's lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said his client has to undergo a pain intervention procedure for his spine, this morning.
Hisyam said Zahid had been admitted under the care of the Avisena Specialist Hospital, in Shah Alam from Aug 22 due to injuries he sustained as a result of a fall.
According to a letter from the hospital that was shown in court, Hisyam said due to the severity of the pain, Zahid would not be able to sit for a long time.
"For that reason, he is not coming to court this morning.
"As far as the defence is concerned, we are ready to proceed and we do not want to be accused of any delays... I leave it entirely to the court," the lawyer said.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran confirmed that she has received the letter from defence on the accused's non-attendance.
She said, however the prosecution is concerned about the fact that the accused did not mention his consent for the trial to proceed without his presence.
"Our main concern is that the accused is not present and the letter does not say anything about the accused agreeing for the case to proceed in his absence.
"That is an important point to consider because we do not want the court to be seen as denying his rights to be heard in court," she said.
The judge then said he would rather have the accused present in court for the hearing to avoid a situation resulting in a mistrial.
He also ordered for the doctor to appear before the court to provide some explanation on Zahid's medical condition tomorrow at 3.30pm.
"We can't afford anymore postponements as the last set of dates have been given up because of Covid-19 fears, close contacts of lawyers and that had taken away a large portion of our dates.
"I was looking forward to kick off the hearing today but unfortunately the accused has a procedure... Maybe we can hear from the doctor himself," he said.
The next date for submissions at the end of the prosecution's case is on Sept 6.
On March 19, the prosecution concluded its case after calling 99 witnesses to testify in the trial which lasted for 53 days.
Zahid, 68, had on Oct 19 and Dec 14, 2018, as well as Feb 20, 2019, pleaded not guilty to a total of 47 charges, 12 of which are CBT, eight for bribery and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
For the 12 CBT charges, Zahid was alleged to have used the funds to make payments for personal credit cards, insurance policies and licence for his personal vehicles, remittances to a law firm and contributions to the Royal Malaysia Police football association.
The charge, under Section 409 of the Penal Code, provides for a jail term of between two and 20 years, and with whipping, and fine, upon conviction.
Zahid was also charged with eight counts of receiving bribes from three companies, namely Mastoro Kenny IT Consultant & Services, Data Sonic Group Bhd and Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd as an inducement for him, in his capacity as the then Home Minister, to help the companies obtain MyEG projects, for the supply of passport chips and to be appointed the operator of migrant visa one-stop centres in Pakistan and
Nepal respectively.
If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The Bagan Datuk Member of Parliament also faced 27 money-laundering charges by engaging in direct transactions involving proceeds from illegal activities.
He was charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, for which the penalty upon conviction, provides a maximum 15-year jail term and a fine of up to five times of the proceeds from the illegal activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher, if convicted.
The offences were allegedly committed between Jan 13, 2014 and April 11,2018.