PUTRAJAYA (Aug 16): The government’s appeal against the wrongful arrest case of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) critic Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan has been postponed once again.

This time, it was due the Attorney General Chambers’ objection to Court of Appeal judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah being on the panel.

Senior federal counsel Zetty Zurina Kamaruddin informed the three-member panel led by judge Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali that they received instruction to object to Sequerah hearing the case, as he is still presiding over the 1MDB-Tanore case involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“The 1MDB case is still ongoing and [judge] Sequerah is presiding,” she said.

Khairuddin’s counsel Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla said that he had no objections, adding that the request was fair, as there are elements of the 1MDB scandal in this case as well.

Ruzima then told parties that Sequerah had informed the panel earlier that he too was uncomfortable to hear this appeal due to the ongoing 1MDB case.

Judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin was the other judge on the panel. The court has set Aug 19 as case management for parties to set another hearing date.

Khairuddin’s case has already been postponed once in November 2023, as another panel hearing the matter online wanted the hearing to be physical, as it was a public interest case.

In August 2022, the High Court allowed Khairuddin’s claim for unlawful detention and awarded damages of RM300,000. However, judge Quay Chew Soon dismissed the ex-Umno man’s claim for malicious prosecution, on the grounds that it was a bare assertion unsupported by evidence.

The alleged malice, Khairuddin claimed, was to safeguard the interest of Najib, who was also then minister of finance and former chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisors.

Khairuddin, who is also the former Federal Territory Pejuang chief, is appealing on the quantum of damages and also on the malicious prosecution claim, while the prosecution is appealing the High Court’s decision.

Coincidentally, in the 1MDB-Tanore case, the parties are due to submit their arguments at the end of the prosecution’s case next week.

Following submissions, Sequerah will then set a date to deliver his decision on whether Najib has to enter his defence, or walks free. 

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/723031