According to a deputy public prosecutor (DPP) involved in the case at the appellate stage, the notice of appeal was filed at the Court of Appeal registry today.
“We will now wait for the appeal records from the court, including the grounds of judgment, before filing our petition of appeal,” the DPP said.
The petition of appeal will detail where the majority had erred in law and fact.
Appellate and Trial division deputy head Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, when contacted by FMT, confirmed the notice was filed this afternoon.
In a 2-1 majority decision, the appellate court allowed the Putrajaya MP’s appeal last Friday against his conviction and sentence, saying prosecution witnesses supported the defence contention that the money was a political donation.
“The defence has created doubt in the prosecution’s case. There is an appealable error that warranted appellate intervention. The conviction is therefore unsafe,” said bench chairman Suraya Othman.
Ahmad Nasfy Yasin concurred with Suraya while Abu Bakar Jais was the dissenting judge.
In her judgment , Suraya said three prosecution witnesses – businessman Chai Kin Kong, Tadmansori Holdings Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Hasbi Jaafar and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Muhammad Saad Bordani – had given evidence to support the contention that the money was a political donation.
Suraya said trial judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan had failed to consider the evidence of the trio.
She said Chai was the prosecution’s star witness and he was not re-examined on the political donation, and the judge did not direct his mind on this.
“We find such a failure a non-direction and misdirection which renders the conviction unsafe,” she added.
Abu Bakar said Zaini was correct in law and fact to find Ku Nan guilty and the sentence was also appropriate.
On Dec 21, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur found Ku Nan guilty of receiving the money from Chai, who was Aset Kayamas’ director, despite knowing that the businessman’s companies had dealings with the federal territories ministry, which Ku Nan led at the time.
Ku Nan was sentenced to 12 months’ jail and fined RM2 million.