Crime & Courts

Court allows temporary return of Guan Eng's passport

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here today allowed Lim Guan Eng's passport to be returned temporarily to allow the former Penang chief minister to attend the funeral ceremony of his uncle in Singapore.

Judge Azura Alwi ordered for Guan Eng's passport to be returned to him today. She also ordered Guan Eng to surrender his passport to the court before or by March 10.

Earlier, counsel Syafiqah Sofian, who appeared on behalf of the DAP chairman, said her client needed the passport to visit Singapore for two days starting tomorrow.

"At 1pm on March 1, my client received the news that his uncle, Lim Kit Hee, had passed away. Therefore, Guan Eng wanted to attend the funeral ceremony and to pay his last respects for his uncle at Orchid Hall in Singapore.

"There is no risk that my client may run away since he is a public figure and known for his roles as DAP chairman and Bagan member of parliament apart from the high bail imposed on him of RM1 million.

"My client has never been absent from any proceeding except when he is not well or needed to attend the Parliament sitting," Syafiqah said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Farah Yasmin Salleh did not object to the request.

"However, the passport ought to be returned to the Court before Guan Eng's next hearing on March 17," Farah Yasmin said.

Lim is facing four charges of using his position as the then chief minister to solicit gratification to help Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli secure the Penang Undersea Tunnel project

He is alleged to have sought 10 per cent of the profit to be made by the company from Zarul.

He is also accused of receiving RM3.3 million for himself and causing two plots of land belonging to the state government to be disposed of to two companies linked to the tunnel project.

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