Prosecution appeals to reverse Syed Saddiq's acquittal

The prosecution in Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s case has filed an appeal seeking the Federal Court to reverse his acquittal.

Court documents sighted by Malaysiakini showed that the appeal was filed on several grounds, including the prosecution claiming the Court of Appeal panel had erred and selectively re-evaluated evidence in the case, which caused an irreparable miscarriage of justice.

“The Court of Appeal judges have erred in law and fact when making wild accusations against the prosecution and the MACC, alleging the prosecution witness (Rafiq Hakim Razali) was pressured to provide evidence to appease the MACC and tailor the evidence to the prosecution’s case, even though there was no evidence to support the accusations.

“The judges had erred when they did not consider the entire evidence in the appeal records, even though all of the evidence would show that the instructions given by the respondents (Syed Saddiq) to Rafiq were influenced by malicious intent and dishonesty,” the documents read.

Lead prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin confirmed to Malaysiakini that the appeal was filed today, and that they filed a notice of appeal on June 26, just one day after Syed Saddiq was acquitted by the appellate court.

He also confirmed that the Federal Court has not fixed any date for their appeal’s case management or hearing at the present time.

Syed Saddiq’s day in court

Syed Saddiq was acquitted on June 25, following the Court of Appeal panel’s unanimous finding that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the former Muda president.

The panel at that time, chaired by judges Zaidi Ibrahim, Azman Abdullah, and Noorin Badaruddin, also found that the High Court had erred in not fully evaluating the entirety of Syed Saddiq’s defence, which led to his conviction.

Before his acquittal, Syed Saddiq was charged under Section 406 of the Penal Code, where he was accused of abetting Rafiq, who was entrusted with Bersatu Youth’s funds amounting to RM1 million, to commit criminal breach of trust (CBT) with the money on March 6, 2020.

The Muar MP was also accused, under Section 403, of misappropriating RM120,000 from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise’s Maybank Islamic Bhd account by making Rafiq dispose of the funds between April 8 and 21, 2018.

He also faced two counts of money laundering, via transactions of RM50,000 each, alleged to be proceeds from unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Bhd account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account in a bank at Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling in Johor, on June 16 and 19, 2018.

His money laundering charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

Syed Saddiq was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with CBT and misappropriation of assets charges, while the other two money laundering charges were at the Johor Bahru Sessions Court.

The Johor Bahru Sessions Court later allowed the prosecution’s request to transfer the case for all four charges to be jointly tried at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

On Nov 25, 2021, Syed Saddiq was allowed to transfer the case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.

His case trial began on June 21, 2022, and the High Court ordered him to defend himself against the charges on Oct 28, the same year, before convicting him of the offences and sentencing him to seven years in jail, two strokes of the rotan, and a RM10 million fine on Nov 9, 2023.

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