THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today allowed the prosecutors in Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial to impeach a defence witness.

The witness, Jefri Jamil, is said to have given a different statement in court than the one given to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah made the decision after hearing arguments from both sides.

“The ruling of this court is that Section 155 of the Evidence Act (1950) allows impeachment under circumstances set out in this act, and these sections do not allude to whether the documents are classified as OSA (Official Secrets Act) or otherwise. So the ruling of this court is, I will allow impeachment proceedings to commence,” the judge said.

Under Section 155, a witness may be impeached through the showing of proof that the witness’s former statements are inconsistent with any part of his evidence. Section 155 does not specify the nature of such statements.

Jefri, 38, was the third witness in Zahid’s trial.

In court, Jefri said Zahid allowed his company, Teknik Sempurna Sdn Bhd, to build a mosque and a religious school in Malacca at RM9.9 million, and that the payment came from Yayasan Akalbudi.

He told deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran that he gave a statement to MACC in 2018, but does not recall what he said.

This formed the basis of the impeachment application.

Raja Rozela said Jefri’s credibility could be impeached under Section 155(c) of the Evidence Act 1950, for giving evidence inconsistent with previous statements.

Zahid faces 12 counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM31 million, eight corruption charges involving RM21.25 million, and 27 money-laundering charges involving RM65 million. The money belonged to Yayasan Akalbudi, a charity foundation headed by the former deputy prime minister.

If convicted, Zahid could be jailed for up to 20 years.

On January 24, Sequerah ordered Zahid to enter his defence on all 47 charges. – September 22, 2022.