Kota Kinabalu: Former Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony wants a retrial of his graft case after finding out that a paragraph of a star witness’s statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was allegedly tampered with by agency officers.
Calling it a political conspiracy to implicate him in the 2020 High Court hearing, Peter said the discovery of the police report made in July 2018 was made a few days ago in a post that had gone viral.
“If I had known earlier it would have changed the outcome. I’m no judge, but if we had included this in the affidavit, of course the witness’s credibility could have been challenged.
“He could have admitted in court that his statement was forced and exaggerated,” he said, referring to one Mohd Shukur Mohd Din who was acting as middleman between a University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) internship programme and one of Peter’s mechanical companies.
SPONSORED CONTENT Shell’s Access to Energy helps power lives of isolated communities in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: In 2017, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (SSPC) launched Access to Energy (A2E), a Shell Social Investment programme aimed at providing affordable and continuous supply of electricity from renewable sources for communities who live without connection to the electricity grid. Read more Peter claims he had no idea of the police report nor of the alleged tampering which eventually turned into a “political trap” but “the truth has finally revealed itself”.
“I have sworn in court that I have never forged the documents. So I have lodged a police report at the Penampang station today (Monday) so authorities can investigate its authenticity.
“The Attorney-General can dismiss all convictions imposed on me based on Shukur’s report. We want justice for all quarters.
“The matter will be handled by Kuala Lumpur-based lawyers for further action at the state appellate court,” he told a press conference, Monday.
The viral post read “Datuk Peter Anthony persecuted? A rich and influential politician is in cahoots to ruin him” accompanied by Shukur’s police report.
Shukur claimed that his statement’s final paragraph was edited out of political motivation to say Peter intended to use UMS to confuse and cheat Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for acquiring the project.
Peter, 52, who was the Managing Director of Syarikat Asli Jati, was convicted of forging a letter from the UMS Vice-Chancellor’s office dated June 9, 2014.
He says a few organisations in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur have stepped forward in lodging their own police reports in sympathy for him and in curiosity of the truth.
On politics, the Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) President said he will be going to Selangor to convene with Sabahan supporters to help the Unity Government’s campaign during the coming peninsula state elections.
When asked on the possibility of a Parti Warisan-Barisan Nasional coalition in Sabah, he said they can come up with any proposal but KDM is yet to decide.
“So far, we are with the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim),” he said.
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