Guan Eng trial: Prosecution urges defence not to resort to personal attacks

KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in the corruption case involving former Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today urged the defence not to resort to personal attacks in their arguments.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib was referring to the disagreement on the defence's application to obtain a forensic report involving a conversation between businessman G. Gnanaraja and Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) company director, Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli regarding the 'RM2 million chocolate gift' which was allegedly given to Lim as a bribe.

Ahmad Akram expressed this after seeing the ongoing argument between the case's chief prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and counsel Gobind Singh Deo representing Lim, at the latter's hearing before Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi.

This was after Gobind argued on the role of another DPP Nik Haslinie Hashim who is handling Gnanaraja's case at the Shah Alam Sessions Court and Lim's case here.

Ahmad Akram said the defence should present their arguments based on facts and evidence and not make personal attacks on the DPP.

"The attacks on the DPP must stop because they are officers of the court. This will attract unnecessary media attention. We (the prosecution) are here only to do our job. In fact, we do not have any personal interests here," he said.

Earlier, Gobind said Nik Haslinie who is also handling the case involving Gnanaraja at the Shah Alam Sessions Court was already aware of the facts involving the case.

"Nik Haslinie who is also one of the DPPs in this case is already aware that the RM2 million was not to be given to Lim but to Gnanaraja. They know this during further investigation. Why do they want to hide the evidence?

"They (the prosecution) still insist on objecting to our application. The claim that they are not aware of Gnanaraja's case in Shah Alam is false. This is contempt of court at the highest level and full of lies," said the lawyer.

Annoyed by the statement, Wan Shaharuddin insisted that the documents requested by the defence were not relevant to Lim's trial.

"The accused being tried today is not Gnanaraja or Zarul Ahmad but Lim. They need to convince the court that the document is relevant. It is not our job (the prosecution) to say otherwise.

"The request is just a strategy to fish for information that is not done with good intentions. If this application is allowed, it will pave the way for more unrelated information," he said.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, Azura set April 5 to decide on the application for the forensic report.

Lim is facing an amended charge of using his position as the Penang Chief Minister to accept a bribe of RM3.3 million in helping a company owned by Zarul Ahmad to obtain a construction project worth RM6,341,383,702 at the Office of the Chief Minister of Penang, 28th Floor, Komtar, George Town between Jan 2011 and Aug 2017.

For the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe from Zarul Ahmad, namely 10 per cent of the company's profits, as an inducement for obtaining the project and is accused of committing the act near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here on March 2011

The former DAP secretary-general also faces two charges of causing two plots of land worth RM208.8 million owned by the Penang government to be disposed of to two companies allegedly linked to the undersea tunnel project.

He is alleged to have committed the offence at the Penang Land and Mines Office, 21st Floor, Komtar on Feb 17, 2015 and March 22 2017.

-- BERNAMA