THE Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has retracted a letter to High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah asking him to prioritise Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial.

Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob, who wrote the letter to Sequerah on behalf of the AGC, said the matter is over as the letter has been withdrawn.

“As such there is no such application before the court. Let us proceed with this case,” he told the court this morning.

Meanwhile, Sequerah told Malik that no one can dictate which case the court prioritises. 

In the letter, Malik tells Sequerah’s office that he has been instructed to request that the court prioritise Zahid’s case over the 1MDB trial against jailed former prime minister Najib Razak, over which Sequerah also presides.

Earlier today, Zahid’s lawyer Hamidi Mohd Nor verified the authenticity of the letter. 

“Yes, we received (the letter) at 2.50pm yesterday in court served by Malik,” Hamidi told The Malaysian Insight.

Umno Supreme Councillor Mohd Razlan Rafii wanted to know the motive behind the letter.

“What is the AGC’s motive in expediting Zahid’s case?” Razlan asked in a Facebook post.

“Why was the same not done to other high-profile cases, such as the tunnel case, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s corruption case and others?

“The people realise that the election is just around the corner, so what tricks are they playing? Is it because the election will take place soon?”

Last week, the Federal Court upheld Najib’s conviction for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds, for which he began his 12-year prison sentence.

In addition to this, the former prime minister will have to pay a RM210 million fine in default of another five years of imprisonment.

The final days of Najib’s trial were deeply controversial, with his supporters standing by the former prime minister, insisting that did not receive a fair trial. – August 30, 2022.