Lawyers for a former cabinet minister due to face trial for corruption said today that they would apply for the charges to be dropped because of lengthy delays that have prejudiced his case.

Former lands and cooperative development minister Kasitah Gaddam was charged in February 2004 over an allegedly fraudulent share transaction by the state-owned Sabah Land Development board involving up to RM40 million (US$10.78 million).

He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.

But the trial has since been delayed four times and complicated by the prosecution's attempts to try Kasitah jointly with Wasli Mohamad Said, the former general manager of Sabah Land Development Board.

Kasitah's counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters after a high court hearing Wednesday that the prosecutors' moves were an abuse of process.

"Kasitah has been prejudiced so many times, so long. This is going on and on and on. The charge was preferred in 2004 and two years have gone by and the man has not seen the light of day to move on. So that basically is very prejudicial," said Shafee.

Delays unfair

The lawyer said he would write to Malaysia's attorney general to have the charges dropped, arguing they had no basis and that the unjustified delays and attempts by the prosecutors to secure a joint trial were unfair.

Kasitah is one of only a few high-profile casualities of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's much-vaunted crackdown on corruption, which has been criticised by political opponents for failing to make headway.

In an other high-profile case, the former head of troubled steel giant Perwaja, Eric Chia, has been charged with embezzling RM76.4 million, eight years after an investigation was launched into Malaysia's biggest financial scandal.

The High Court said it would hear submissions over the joint trial proposal for Kasitah on March 20 and 21.