April 8 hearing of Ahmad Zahid's application to get recordings of witnesses' statements from MACC

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today set April 8 to hear an application by former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to obtain recorded statements of 18 witnesses from the Malaysian Anti -Corruption Commission (MACC) in the case involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.

Ahmad Zahid's lawyer, Hamidi Mohd Noh informed this to reporters when met after the case management before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, which was also attended by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran.

Hamidi said the application was filed last Feb 18 following an offer by the prosecution.

"The court also ordered the applicant (Ahmad Zahid) to file the submissions before or on March 30," he added.

On Jan 24 this year, the court ordered Ahmad Zahid to defend himself on 47 charges of breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering involving Akalbudi Foundation funds after finding that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case.

The court has set 39 days to hear the defence's case, namely on April 26-28, May 23-26, June 27-30, July 4-7, Aug 22, 23, 29,30, Sept 19-22, 26-29, Oct 17-20 and 31, Nov 1-3, 7-10.

The Bagan Datuk Member of Parliament, who served as the deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2018, opted to testify under oath from the witness stand with the prosecution given the opportunity to question the accused during cross-examination.

-- BERNAMA