A three-member bench of the Court of Appeal today refused to allow bail to lawyer Kamal Hisham Jaafar, who had been on the run, and faces several criminal breach of trust as well as Companies Act charges in the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru.

Court of Appeal President Md Raus Sharif said they are dismissing the application and agreed with the preliminary objection raised by the prosecution that it is not appealable as this does not constitute a final decision pending the trial.

“The decision is unanimous and we agree with the prosecution’s preliminary objection.

“Furthermore, we also agree there is nothing wrong with the High Court judge's decision (to revoke bail) and it is not necessary for us to disturb the decision,” Justice Raus said 45 minutes after hearing submissions in the matter.

The others sitting with Justice Md Raus were Court of Appeal judges Idrus Harun and Zamani A Rahim.

Kamal Hisham was previously linked to the former Johor sultan, the late Sultan Mahmud Iskandar Ismail, and had claimed that he could not remain in the country for fear of danger to his life from the present sultan.

He left Malaysia in April 2011 and took up in residence in Dubai. He returned to Singapore last year and was arrested by the Singapore authorities, who then handed him to their Malaysian counterparts.

The Sessions Court in Johor Bahru granted him bail of RM700,000 on two sureties, and ordered that he surrenders his passport and reports to a police station every month.

After the bail was granted, he was re-arrested. The High Court in Johor Baru, in exercising its revisionary powers, revoked the bail on Sept 21 last year.

High Court procedure illegal, claims lawyer

Lawyer Yusof Zainal Abiden, who was formerly solicitor-general II, who appeared for Kamal Hisham, submitted in court there was something wrong with High Court judge Suffian Abdul Razak's decision in exercising his revisionary powers.

Yusof claimed that the judge had called up the case based on newspaper reports in the The Star and Utusan Malaysia , and called up the matter himself.

“The judge asked for affidavits to be submitted on the matter and did not rely on the Sessions Court judge's notes.

“Such a revision cannot be made, based solely on the affidavits without looking at the notes and the decision of the judge,” said Yusof in arguing the illegality of the procedure.

Yusof ( photo ) then showed the affidavit of a senior police officer in the Johor Commercial Crime Department affirming that the judge had read newspaper reports.

Furthermore, the senior lawyer submitted, conditions for bail were imposed and Kamal Hisham had abided to by them and also came up with the sum imposed (RM700,000 with two sureties).

He said his client cannot be allowed to remain in jail while waiting for the trial to conclude, which could take years.

“In the Brunei court, they do impose stricter conditions, where an accused, besides posting bail, is required to report to a police station twice in a day. Such a requirement can be imposed here,” Yusof said.

However, DPP Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud told the court that one cannot appeal in an interlocutory application as this does not constitute a final decision.

Furthermore, Awang Armadajaya said, Kamal Hisham had been overseas since April 2011 and in his affidavit in support for the bail application, he had stated that he feared for his safety, allegedly from the present Sultan of Johor.

“There is no guarantee that he will abscond, if bail is granted. I cannot say if his allegation is true, but there is a high possibility that he would abscond bail on the cases he is charged for, as he had done this before, by running from this country.

“His claim of having a legal practice overseas cannot be a reason to grant bail,” Awang Armadajaya said.

The court was filled to the brim with Kamal Hisham's family members and friends.

Kamal Hisham told Malaysiakini that even if he was granted bail today, there is a high possibility that he would be re-arrested.

“I have been in prison for months, but the police did not question me (for their investigations). I would tell them that they are being cruel if they re-arrest me,” he said.

As the decision denying bail was handed just before Friday prayers, Kamal Hisham's relatives were seen crying outside the courtroom.