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KUALA LUMPUR – The defence team in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Jana Wibawa case today wanted the 29th prosecution witness, Mazery Mohd Zaini, to be cited for contempt of court over a police report lodged against one of the lawyers representing the former prime minister.
Lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad said the report was lodged against him over a document – a copy of the recorded statement of Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad – which he said had nothing to do with the trial.
“I can only conclude and infer that the person who related this information is the witness who is in the witness box today, while he is still under oath and still in the process of giving evidence.
“Now, the conduct of lodging this report, mentioning my name, trying to tarnish my reputation and giving false information that the report or the document has nothing to do with the case, is an attempt to mislead the public, mislead the authorities and a form of intimidation.
“I do not want to waste judicial time, but I want to put on record that we are considering various legal actions,” he said.
Amer Hamzah also did not rule out lodging a report against the appropriate person, including the investigating officer, for allegedly making a false report, contempt of court and other legal action.
The matter arose during the hearing of Muhyiddin’s case, in which the former prime minister faces seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering before Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin.
Mazery, a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer, was due to continue his testimony today but instead apologised to the legal team, particularly Amer Hamzah, over the police report.
“First, I would like to apologise to the legal team, especially Datuk Amer, over the police report that was lodged out of concern that the document might have come from MACC officers and that there was an internal leak of information among MACC officers.
“I need to protect my own department’s integrity as far as MACC officers are concerned. That is why the report was made, to see whether there are any avenues for leaks within MACC itself, because we do not want important classified documents like this to be released freely, especially in the future,” he said.
He said the commission would withdraw the police report as soon as possible if no leak was found among its officers.
Amer Hamzah said he acknowledged Mazery’s apology and explanation but could not fully accept the reasoning while the police report remained in place.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said it was excessive to describe the police report as intimidation against the defence.
“I think that is going too far. Mazery has explained to the court the purpose of the report and also stated his willingness to withdraw it if investigations find no leak from the MACC,” he said.
He said Mazery had a responsibility as an investigating officer to protect MACC’s integrity, but left the matter to the court.
Judge Noor Ruwena said the court took the matter seriously because Mazery was still giving evidence.
“The court is also concerned. Because you are still in the process of giving evidence, that is why I want to know first if the person referred to as the investigating officer in the police report is you or someone in your team?” she said.
Noor Ruwena then asked Mazery to check with his department to confirm who was connected to the document and the police report.
“You have to get in touch with that IO (investigating officer) and inform the court immediately,” she said before the hearing resumed.
