Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali fixed the date after hearing oral submissions from the defence and prosecution.
The trial started on Oct 7 last year with the prosecution calling 15 witnesses and the defence six.
On June 16, Nazlan ordered Isa to enter his defence on nine counts of corruption but acquitted him on one count of criminal breach of trust.
For the corruption charges, Isa, who is also the longest-serving Negeri Sembilan menteri besar (1982-2004), is accused of receiving RM3.09 million in kickbacks for approving the RM160 million purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel.
The offence is under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and those found guilty can be jailed up to 20 years and fined five times the gratification amount.
Lawyer Salehuddin Saidin told the court today that the defence rebutted the presumption under Section 50 of the MACC Act that the RM3 million Isa allegedly received was corrupt money.
“The accused has denied he received such money and he subjected himself to cross-examination by the prosecution. Five other witnesses testified to support Isa’s contention,” he said.
Salehuddin said Isa’s testimony must be takan to be more credible to create a doubt in the prosecution’s case and his client was entitled to an acquittal.
The lawyer said Muhammad Zahid Mat Arip, who was a special officer to Isa and prosecution witness, had collected the money on nine occasions from Ikhwan Zaidel, the then director of Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd, which owned the hotel.
“Zahid collected the money for himself and his followers (kuncu-kuncu),” Salehuddin said, adding that Zahid was also an interested witness who was once arrested by the MACC for questioning.
Further, he said Isa’s former secretary Zuraidah Ariffin @ Shaari told the court that she never saw Zahid bring any paper bag into the office of Isa.
The lawyer said her evidence was supported by the testimony of Isa’s special officer Kamar Bashah Shariff as both would always be in the accused’s office.
Bashah said he would usually carry Isa’s belongings – from clothes to documents – when Isa went to work, as well as pack the items to take home at the end of the day.
Zahid had told the court that he handed the money amounting to RM3 million through nine meetings with Isa at his office at Level 49 of Menara Felda, with the money placed in a paper bag and a black bag.
Salehuddin said Zuraidah and Bashah were offered to the defence as the prosecution did not put them on the witness stand.
“Their testimonies must be accepted as true because it must be similar to statements given to the MACC during investigations. Otherwise. the credibility of both would have been impeached by the prosecution,” he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz said the money was handed over to Isa in the absence of Zuraida and Bashah.
“It was done discreetly,” he said, adding that Zahid was the conduit between the accused and Ikhwan.
Afzainizam said the prosecution’s task was to prove Isa received the money with corrupt intention and not where he kept it and what it was used for.
He said Zuraida and Bashah were excluded as they were not material witnesses to establish a prima facie case against Isa.
Afzainizam said Isa also used the name of then prime minister Najib Razak to influence the board of Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB) to purchase the hotel at an inflated price.
He said another two defence witnesses, Mohamad Jani Ismail and Dahalan Tunggal, had prepared identical statutory declarations that it was Zahid who was the beneficiary of the RM3 million to bolster Isa’s defence.