“He will not be able to put (up) an effective defence to rebut the prosecution’s case,” lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said in his submission.
He said this would lead to a breach of Zahid’s right to a fair trial which is guaranteed under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
The defence wants the court to admit the witness statement of Fadzlette Othman Merican to contradict the testimony of key prosecution witness, Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly.
The prosecution had relied on Mazlina’s evidence to establish a prima facie case against Zahid on 12 criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges.
Fadzlette, the proposed second defence witness, was press secretary to Zahid when he was in public office between 2011 and 2018.
Mazlina was Zahid’s former executive secretary and worked for him when he was home minister and deputy prime minister between 2013 and 2018.
Deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran repeated her stand that parts of Fadzlette’s witness statement about Mazlina were irrelevant and inadmissible.
“They are attempting to bring Fadzlette to give the impression that Mazlina is a lousy witness,” she said.
Yesterday, Raja Rozela said certain paragraphs in the statement were put in to damage Mazlina’s character.
She said this was not permitted under the Evidence Act because Mazlina’s credibility had been previously challenged extensively by the accused’s lawyers during cross-examination.
However, Hisham said Fadzlette’s witness statement should be allowed as long as it had nexus to facts and issues relevant to the charges.
It is to determine if Zahid gave consent to Mazlina to use a rubber stamp of his signature to make payments from Yayasan Akalbudi funds, he said.
Hisyam said it was also to show that Mazlina was careless in carrying out her duties, did not follow instructions and had no respect for persons in authority.
“The defence is only relying on Fadzlette’s witness statement and evidence to contradict Mazlina’s testimony,” he said, adding that the defence was not using Fadzlette to challenge Mazlina’s credibility.
Trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will deliver his ruling tomorrow on whether to allow the prosecution’s objection.
Zahid, who is the Umno president, is standing trial on charges of money laundering and CBT involving millions from Yayasan Akalbudi and for accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister.
Twenty-seven charges are for money laundering and another eight are for corruption.