Syed Saddiq says ‘sorry’ for social media post on trial
KUALA LUMPUR: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman apologised to the High Court today over a social media posting pertaining to his ongoing criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering trial. “My humblest apology,” he told judicial commissioner Azhar Abdul Hamid from the dock. His apology came after…
KUALA LUMPUR: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman apologised to the High Court today over a social media posting pertaining to his ongoing criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering trial.
“My humblest apology,” he told judicial commissioner Azhar Abdul Hamid from the dock.
His apology came after deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin informed the court that a police report had been lodged by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Taufik Awaludin yesterday over Syed Saddiq’s Instagram post commenting on star witness Rafiq Hakim Razali’s credibility and testimony in court.
“These things have happened several times,” Wan Shaharuddin said. “Even (previous presiding judge) Justice Zaini (Mazlan) had warned him not to make comments on his case.
“The court should be the one to make a finding of fact on Rafiq, whether he is a credible witness and whether his testimony can be accepted.”
He said the the prosecution might move the court to cite Syed Saddiq for contempt.
Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo told the court that the legal team had asked Syed Saddiq not to share or retweet anything about the case.
“It was not intentional. The tweet (in question) has been deleted,” he said.
Azhar said the court took note of this matter, which he described as “quite serious”.
“My fellow learned brothers (judges Zaini and Collin Lawrence Sequerah) had made various warnings on similar matters.
“Let this be a final warning to all parties against making comments,” he said.
Earlier this week, Syed Saddiq’s defence team apologised to the court after lawyer Lim Wei Jiet had commented about the case. A police report had been lodged by an MACC officer against Lim last month.
Star witness’s alleged contradictory statements
The court also heard arguments from Gobind and Wan Shaharuddin on the defence’s bid to impeach Rafiq on his alleged “contradictory” statements.
Gobind said Rafiq’s witness statement, that was not tendered in court, was based on what he had told MACC during the 2020 investigation.
He pointed out the contents of Rafiq’s witness statement contradicted his oral testimony.
“Our stand is that he can be impeached,” he said, adding that the defence might file an application to ask MACC to produce statements the authorities recorded from Rafiq in 2020.
Wan Shaharudin argued that the witness statement was inadmissible as the prosecution did not tender it before the court.
“The document does not have a legal force,” he said.
The court will rule on the impeachment bid on July 18, when the trial resumes.
Syed Saddiq is standing trial on four counts of CBT and money laundering. He is alleged to have misappropriated a total of RM1.12 million belonging to Bersatu.
From the amount, RM120,000 was said to be party funds for the 2018 general election, while RM1 million was allegedly withdrawn by him without the top leadership’s consent.
He has also pleaded not guilty to the two charges of money laundering amounting to RM50,000 each. — Free Malaysia Today