Tapah Umno division chairperson Azman Mahalan was charged with two counts of bribery involving RM7,000 at the Ipoh Sessions Court in Perak today.

The former state executive councillor has pleaded not guilty and Judge Ahmad Nasfy Yasin fixed Dec 13-17 for trial.

According to Bernama , the judge allowed bail of RM10,000 with one surety and ordered Azman to surrender his travel documents.

Azman, 62, is alleged to have given the bribes to businessman Mohamed Kamal Rabaai in 2001 in relation to the election of the Tapah Umno division chairperson's post then.

He was arrested in his house in Lengkok Pasar, Rapat Setia, here at about 8.30am and taken to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) office to have his statement and fingerprints recorded, before being brought to court.

Senior deputy public prosecutor Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah appeared for the prosecution while Azman was represented by Mohamad Amar Abdul Aziz.

The charges

On the first charge, Azman is alleged to have given RM2,000 in bribe to Mohamed Kamal at his house here between 6pm and 7pm on April 6, 2001, as inducement for the latter not to accept a settlement offer from Pazli Abdullah Sani, who was declared a bankrupt for debts owed to Mohamed Kamal.

This was allegedly done so that Pazli would remain a bankrupt and be ineligible to contest against Azman for the Tapah Umno division chairperson's post on April 22, 2001.

On the second charge, Azman is alleged to have given a RM5,000 bribe to Mohamed Kamal for the same purpose at the same place between 8.30pm and 11pm on April 9, 2001.

Azman is charged under section 10(b)(aa) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997. If convicted, he can face a maximum of 20 years jail and fine of five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

The report said the former state exco arrived at the court at about 11am with his head covered with a cloth to shield him from press photographers.

Early hearing

After the charge was read out and the plea recorded, Abdul Majid asked for the trial to be fixed for December this year or January 2005 because he had several cases in Kuala Lumpur.

However, counsel Tun Mohamad Ammar wanted an early date because Azman wanted to clear his name.

In response to this, the judge said cases of public interest should be tried early, at the latest a month after the charge.

Azman, a former teacher, has been the Tapah Umno division chairperson since 1984 and was Ayer Kuning state assemblyperson from 1986 until his eleventh-hour drop from the last general election.

He was a state executive councillor from 1986 until the dissolution of the state assembly for last month's general election.

The father of five, beat Pazli, who is the division's Youth chief, by a majority of 18 votes in the election for the Tapah Umno division chairperson's post in 2001.