Court allows prosecution's bid to impeach defence witness in Zahid trial
The witness, businessman Jefri Jamil, testified that he had given a statement to MACC in 2018 but could not remember its content.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today allowed the prosecution’s application to impeach the third defence witness in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said Section 155 of the Evidence Act 1950 allowed the impeachment proceedings to be commenced as applied for by the prosecution.
"The section does not allude to whether the documents (statement recorded by MACC) are classified as official secrets or otherwise. So, the ruling of this court is that I will allow the proceedings to commence," he said.
Lead prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran had said that the prosecution would initiate the impeachment proceedings against Syarikat Pembinaan Teknik Sempurna Sdn Bhd director Jefri Jamil, the third defence witness, in accordance with Section 155 of the Evidence Act 1950.
"The credit of a witness may be impeached in the following ways by the adverse party or with the consent of the court by proof of former statements inconsistent with any part of his evidence which is liable to be contradicted by the testimony he (witness) gave to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2018," she said.
Raja Rozela made the application when cross-examining Jefri, who testified that he had given a statement to MACC in 2018 but could not remember its content.
Lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, representing Zahid, objected to the application and said that the document of Jefri’s statement was classified as confidential according to the Official Secrets Act (OSA) on March 2, 2021.
"The prosecution cannot commence the proceedings until the document has been declassified. We have applied to get the document before but it was rejected by the court because it was classified under the OSA," he said.
Zahid, 69, faces 47 charges: 12 of criminal breach of trust, eight of corruption and 27 of money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
The proceedings continue this afternoon.
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