Ex-solicitor-general to lead Syed Saddiq’s corruption appeal

January 19, 2024

Ex-solicitor-general to lead Syed Saddiq’s corruption appeal

PUTRAJAYA: Former solicitor-general Yusof Zainal Abiden will appear for Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is appealing against his conviction and sentence for abetting in corruption.

Lawyer Alex Tan, whose firm is acting as solicitor, confirmed the matter after attending a case management before a Court of Appeal senior assistant registrar today.

“Yusof will be the lead counsel and lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik will assist him in the appeal,” he told FMT.

Yusof was briefly a counsel in former prime minister Najib Razak’s legal team for the SRC International trial.

He is known for prosecuting former Perwaja Steel chairman, the late Eric Chia, and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II trial at the High Court.

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He retired in 2012 and entered private practice.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo was the lead counsel for Syed Saddiq during the trial before Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid, but has since been appointed the digital minister.

Meanwhile, Tan said the defence has yet to receive the appeal records that included the grounds of judgment.

“Another case management will be held on March 15,” he said.

On Nov 9, Syed Saddiq was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison and fined RM10 million after being convicted of abetting in criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of assets and money laundering.

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Azhar sentenced the Muda president to three years in prison and to be whipped once for the CBT charge.

The High Court judge further sentenced Syed Saddiq to another two years in prison and one stroke of the rotan for embezzlement of assets that belonged to the youth wing of Bersatu.

Both of these sentences are to run consecutively, meaning he will serve five years.

Azhar also imposed a prison term of two years each for the two counts of money laundering, and a fine of RM5 million each. He ordered these two sentences to run concurrently.

The judge allowed an application by the defence to stay the sentences pending appeal.

He also ordered that all bail conditions be retained pending the appeal, including the sum of RM300,000 posted by Syed Saddiq when charged initially.

Syed Saddiq, 30, has the distinction of being the first elected representative to be ordered to be whipped for a white-collar crime under the Penal Code. The law exempts those aged 50 and above from the punishment.