Businessman suffering blood cancer gets stay of jail term pending disposal of his appeal

PUTRAJAYA: A businessman suffering from blood cancer was granted a stay by the Court of Appeal today against his 10-year jail sentence for allegedly using forged documents, pending disposal of his appeal.
A three-man panel comprising Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam and Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi granted the stay to Datuk Zainulabidin Mat Akhir, who was present in court in a wheelchair.
His lawyer, Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said the stay was necessary because his 66-year-old client was undergoing chemotherapy for his fourth stage multiple myeloma.
He said allowing Zainulabidin to go to jail when there was still an appeal pending goes against the presumption of innocence.
Muhammad Shafee said the reason they were appealing was that the High Court judge had prejudged the matter when he went ahead to deliver his decision after rejecting the defence's request for a postponement.
The High Court judge has also denied Zainulabidin's application for a stay of his jail sentence.
Deputy public prosecutor Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar objected to the stay saying that it was up to the High Court's discretion to deny a stay and the appellate court would normally would not interfere with the High Court's judge discretion exercise.
She said a person that had been convicted did not have the presumption of innocence.
"As for his health issues, the Prisons Department would be willing to accommodate by allowing Zainulabidin to go for his treatment," she said.
Zainulabidun, father of actress Ummi Nazeera, was convicted by the Sessions Court on 10 counts of using forged documents, including a "Security Transfer" form for a transfer of 1,680,000 units of shares of Mutiara Efektif (M) Sdn Bhd belonging to his wife, Datuk Seri Maziah Musa, 51, to his son, Ahmad Fikhri, on Dec 26, 2006.
Zainulabidin allegedly committed the offence at the Indah Secretarial management office in Sentul Raya Boulevard, Sentul, in December 2006.
He was also charged with using a forged document dated Dec 22, 2008, for the transfer of ownership of 299,999 B.TIS Manufacturer Sdn Bhd company shares from Maziah to himself between December 2008 and May 2009.
Zainulabidin was also charged with using forged documents on Mutiara Efektif's board of directors' resolution dated Dec 26, 2012, on the appointment of Ahmad Fikhri as director and the resignation of Maziah as director.
On Nov 25, 2015, the Sessions Court sentenced Zainulabidin to between one and 10 years in prison for the 10 charges, to be served concurrently.
He lost his appeal at the High Court on Oct 16, this year. — Bernama