Oh my God! We prayed this would not happen – because at the back of our minds there was this sneaking, needling possibility that this would come to pass as a political solution. We are right that it turned out to be so; there is no joy in our hearts – only a crushing, excruciating pain that our hopes have been shattered.
Is this the shameful price that has to be paid to remain in power? Can we, in future, take seriously any rhetoric that corruption will not be tolerated; that the corrupt will be prosecuted and made to pay for their crime; that there will be no compromise in our determination to punish those who betray the trust and destroy the dignity of our country as a shining example of a civil society?
All the hours of serious, thorough investigation over a long period, which secured a prima facie case in a court of law, have been rendered meaningless by the unjustifiable action of the attorney general. He has pulled the rug from underneath the feet of justice, causing it to come tumbling down into the dirt in disgrace.
Corruption has one more hurdle to cross and one more ‘victory’ to achieve: the release of Najib Razak. When that day of ‘triumph’ arrives, it would complete the trampling of justice! We dare not exclude this ultimate mockery of justice – the “Madani” (Civil Malaysia) government will no longer be the bulwark against corruption – as we had hoped – when it matters!
Imagine the waste in time and cost and energy! The trial had dragged on for almost four years, beginning from 18 November 2019, stretching over 77 days of trial, involving 114 witnesses.
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The prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie case after calling 99 witnesses when trial judge Collin Sequerah ordered Zahid Hamidi to enter his defence on 24 January 2022 – after the prosecution had wrapped up its case in 2021.
Zahid began his defence in May 2022, calling 15 witnesses. The case was scheduled to continue yesterday, 4 September, when the prosecution suddenly applied for a “discharge not amounting to an acquittal”.
The trial judge observed that much precious judicial time and a great amount of taxpayers’ money would be wasted if the prosecution decides in the near future it will not proceed with the charges.
This observation begs the question: how many politicians who were freed on a discharge not amounting to an acquittal have subsequently been charged? So far, none! So don’t raise your hopes that justice will be served – it will only be sacrificed to benefit the politicians!
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
Following the outcome of the DPM Hamidi case, the powers of the AG has to be replaced by a system where the decision to stop the prosecution should be made by a committee of senior ex retired juges, inorder to have a fairer decision of not stopping the prosecution midway as in the present where the AG singlehandledly and arbitrary decides.