Return to court for Bung and his wife

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad are now back in court as the Court of Appeal ordered them to enter a plea on three corruption charges.

The couple were released by the High Court nearly a year ago after they asked for a review of the Sessions Court’s decision to allow them to defend against the charges.

Yesterday, the appeal court found that the High Court’s decision to acquit the couple of RM2.8 million of charges linked to the Felcra Bhd investment was “premature” and essentially stalled the case.

The unanimous verdict was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Noorin Badaruddin.

Reading the judgment, Justice Mohamed Zaini said it was settled law that the defendants could not appeal a decision ordering them to enter their defence, as it did not constitute a final decision regarding the rights of the defendants.

“The court’s findings at this stage are (prima facie) not subject to appeal as they do not constitute a final decision regarding the rights of the defendants.

“Requesting a revision of these findings is essentially the same as appealing against them.

“The legal process of the trial must continue to allow the defendants to present their defense,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The Kinabatangan MP and his wife were acquitted and dismissed on September 7, 2023, after the Supreme Court allowed their application for correction to overturn the Court of Parliament decision dated September 2, 2022, which ordered them to enter a defense on corruption charges.

The prosecutor’s office objected to the acquittal decision on September 18, 2023.

Judge Mohamed Zaini said the couple’s application was actually an interlocutory appeal “masked” as a rectification application, as the court’s decision on a prima facie case against the defendants could only be challenged on appeal after the defence’s case had concluded.

He also noted that the trial judge gave a brief oral decision without extensive reasoning while urging Bung Moktar and Zizie Izette to join their defense.

“The oral decision was not a decision containing the reasons for the decision.

“In fact, the Supreme Court judge has no obligation to provide any justification when requesting a defense at this stage; “This obligation arises only at the end of the trial, whether one chooses to acquit or convict the defendants,” he added.

Therefore, the brevity of the Sessions Court’s decision was also insufficient for the Supreme Court to correct, Justice Mohamed Zaini said.

“There is insufficient material in a brief or judgment for the learned High Court judge to correct, assuming his lordship has the authority to do so,” he said, before allowing the prosecution’s objection.

“The Sessions Court decision is reinstated and we order that this case be remanded to the Sessions Court so that the hearing can continue without further delay,” said Judge Mohamed Zaini.

The appeals court then set December 5 for case management in the Sessions Court.

Bung Moktar, then non-executive chairman of Felcra, was accused of accepting bribes of RM2.2 million and RM262,500 as inducements to obtain Felcra approval to invest RM150 million in its Public Mutual unit on May 3, 2019. trusts.

He allegedly received a bribe from Public Mutual Bhd’s investment representative Madhi Abdul Hamid, through Zizie Izette, at Public Bank’s Taman Melawati Branch between 12.30pm and 5pm on June 12, 2015.

Zizie Izette was accused of abetting her husband three times in this regard at the same place, date and time.