Kuala Lumpur, March 27 — Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing 47 corruption charges in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, can now travel overseas without the court’s permission.
This follows the Court of Appeal’s ruling today allowing the Umno president to keep his personal and diplomatic passports with him permanently.
A three-man bench chaired by judge Hanipah Farikullah unanimously allowed Zahid’s application, filed after the High Court on Feb 3 rejected his bid for the permanent return of his travel document, Berita Harian reported.
Hanipah, who sat with judges Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Lim Chong Fong, was quoted as saying that the panel was satisfied with the merit of Zahid’s application.
Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob told the bench he had instructions not to object to the application.
High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah had last month dismissed Zahid’s application for permanent access to his passport.
However, he allowed the Umno president temporary access to his passport for the purpose of applying for a diplomatic passport, after which he was to surrender both documents to the court.
Zahid’s passport was surrendered to the court as an additional bail condition after he was charged with 47 counts of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving Akalbudi Foundation funds.
In the application, Zahid, who is also the rural and regional development minister, said the passports should be returned to him due to a change in circumstances after the 15th general election last November.
He said that as a deputy prime minister and a minister, he needed his passports for his official duties.
“As an individual who holds one of the highest positions in the country, it is seen as impractical and an inconvenience for me to apply to the court every time I want to go abroad for work purposes.”
“Therefore, it is appropriate for the Court of Appeal to consider that the approval of the application would bring good and continuity to the administration of the country, which is the responsibility of every Malaysian,” he said.
Zahid is accused of 47 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister between 2013 and 2018.
Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption and the remaining 27 for money laundering.
The hearing, at the defence stage, will resume on April 10.
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