THE judge in the corruption trial of DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur has ordered the prosecution team to produce WhatsApp messages exchanged between two of its witnesses.

Judge Azura Alwi, in allowing Lim’s discovery application, said the messages can reveal the full facts of the case against the former Penang chief minister.

“The court finds that there are two ‘versions’ as to who was the recipient of the RM2 million payment.

“The full facts need to be presented before the court so that the truth can be known,” she said.

Last week, Lim’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo argued that the prosecution had suppressed vital evidence that could clear the former finance minister. 

Gobind said the prosecution had failed to deliver copies of WhatsApp conversations between two businessmen - G. Gnanaraja and Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli – who were alleged to have paid Lim RM2 million in 2017.

Gobind said the evidence was important to prove the corruption claims made against Lim were baseless. 

He said the RM2 million that Lim is accused of receiving was actually meant for then prime minister Najib Razak. 

Lim, 62, is facing an amended charge of using his position as chief minister to accept a bribe of RM3.3 million to help a company owned by Zarul to obtain a construction project worth RM6.3 billion at the Office of the Chief Minister of Penang, 28th Floor, Komtar, George Town, between January 2011 and August 2017. 

On the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe from Zarul of 10% of the company’s profits as an inducement for securing the project, supposedly during a meeting near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City in Kuala Lumpur in March 2011. 

Lim also faces two charges of disposing of two plots of land worth RM209 million owned by the Penang government to two companies allegedly linked to the undersea tunnel project. – April 5, 2023.