The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya today adjourned to Nov 22 to hear the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of a Perak assemblyperson and three others for corruption.

A three-member panel comprising Appeals Court judges Linton Albert and Mohtarudin Baki as well as High Court judge Mohd Zawawi Salleh postponed the hearing as one of the lawyers was involved in an accident in Bidor.

Lawyer Surjan Singh Sidhu informed the panel that the counsel was Abdul Roni Abdul Rahman.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Abazafree Mohd Abbas did not object to the postponement although he was prepared for the case.

Abdul Roni is representing Behrang assemblyperson Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, 56, former Perak Tengah district councillor Zul Hassan, 50, and businessman Fairul Azrim Ismail, 34. Surjan is representing former Bota assemblyperson Usaili Alias, 60.

On April 23, 2010, the Ipoh Sessions Court acquitted the four and Changkat Jering assemblyperson Mohd Osman Jailu without their defence being called.

They were charged with 10 counts of accepting and asking for bribes over a RM180 million housing development project in Seri Iskandar near Ipoh.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at the office of the Perak state secretary, at Restoran Kluang Station Cafe in Medan Istana, Bandar Ipoh Raya, Ipoh and at Aquarias Restaurant & Bar, Level 4, Summit Hotel, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, between Aug 14 and 19, 2008.

Zul and Fairul were also slapped with charges of sex bribes when they allegedly accepted the sexual services of Chinese nationals at Sri Sayang Apartment (Seaview Agency) in Jalan Batu Ferringhi, Penang, on Aug 14, 2008.

A sixth person, former Perak Development Corporation technician Ruslan Sahat, was also charged but died in late 2008 and charges against him were dropped.

The Ipoh High Court on April 22 last year dismissed the prosecution’s appeal and upheld the acquittal of Jamaluddin, Zul and Fairul but ordered Osman to enter his defence.

The High Court also upheld Usaili’s acquittal on four charges of receiving a bribe. However, the High Court ordered Usaili to enter his defence with respect to three other corruption charges.

- Bernama