Prosecution argues defence objections to investigating officer’s statement premature in Lim Guan Eng undersea tunnel corruption trial.
KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in the Lim Guan Eng undersea tunnel corruption trial told the Sessions Court that the defence’s objections to 23 paragraphs in the investigating officer’s witness statement are premature.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin submitted that 37 prosecution witnesses have already testified and the court would not rely solely on the evidence of the 38th witness.
He stated that nearly all the paragraphs objected to by the defence contain the phrase “result of the investigation” indicating the investigating officer conducted a complex investigation.
“The court is not necessarily bound by this witness’s opinion because the court must still evaluate all the evidence in its entirety alongside other testimony to reach its legal and factual conclusions,” he said during the corruption trial of Lim who faces four charges related to the construction of major roads and an undersea tunnel in Penang.
Meanwhile deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat added that the accused is not prejudiced at this stage as he will still have the opportunity to challenge the evidence during cross-examination.
He stated that while the investigating officer’s perceptions may not necessarily align with the court’s final findings this does not constitute grounds to prevent him from providing his professional opinion based on the evidence before him.
“Therefore we urge the court to dismiss the defence’s objections and permit the prosecution to proceed with further questioning of the investigating officer,” he stated.
Earlier Lim’s counsel Ramkarpal Singh argued that the investigating officer who was assigned to investigate the case had presented testimony that was biased against his client.
The lawyer contended that the officer’s characterisation of the undersea tunnel project as a “land scam” and his use of terms such as “non-transparent” and “rushed” in his witness statement represented personal opinions.
The defence therefore sought to have all 23 contested paragraphs struck from the court record.
Judge Azura Alwi has scheduled November 12 to deliver her ruling on this application.
According to the amended first charge Lim who is 64 is accused in his capacity as the then chief minister of Penang of abusing his position to receive a bribe of 3.3 million ringgit to assist a company owned by Zarul Ahmad in securing the Major Roads and Undersea Tunnel Construction Project in Penang valued at 6.341 billion ringgit.
The offence allegedly took place between January 2011 and August 2017 at the Chief Minister’s Office in Penang.
Under the amended second charge Lim is accused of soliciting a 10% bribe out of the project’s future profits from Zarul Ahmad for assisting his company in securing the same project.
The solicitation allegedly took place near The Gardens Hotel Lingkaran Syed Putra Mid Valley City between 12.30 am and 2.00 am in March 2011.
Additionally Lim faces two charges of disposing of a couple of state-owned lots of land in Penang valued at 208.8 million ringgit to a developer linked to the undersea tunnel project.
These offences were allegedly committed at the Penang Land and Mines Office Komtar on February 17 2015 and March 22 2017. – Bernama
