Feb 26 hearing for prosecution's appeal involving Khairuddin, Matthias

The prosecution's appeal against a high court decision involving former Batu Kawan UMNO division head Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and lawyer Matthias Chang Wen Chieh will be heard by the Court of Appeal this Friday.

Deputy public prosecutor Masri Mohd Daud said this in court today when the case against the two, who are charged with sabotaging the country's banking and financial services, was brought for mention before Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah.

The prosecution is appealing against the ruling by High Court judge Datuk Mohd Azman Husin on Nov 18 last year that the charge faced by the duo did not fall under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, which is non-bailable.

Justice Mohd Azman had then allowed Khairuddin, 54, and Chang, 66, to be released on RM10,000 bail with one surety each.

Khairuddin and Chang are accused of committing the offence at five locations between June 28 and Aug 26 last year.

The alleged five locations are the office of the France Economic and Financial Crimes Division chief in Paris; Charing Cross Police station, London, United Kingdom; office of the Switzerland Attorney General in Bern; Wan Chai police station, Hong Kong; and Cantonment Police Headquarters, Singapore.

The charge, under Section 124L of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, carries a maximum 15 years' jail upon conviction.

The court set March 9 for re-mention of the case, which was not objected to by counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla who represented Khairuddin.