Senior federal counsel Zetty Zurina Kamaruddin said the Attorney-General’s Chambers has been instructed to seek the recusal of Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah from hearing the appeal.
“Justice Sequerah is still presiding over the 1MDB corruption trial (involving Najib Razak) at the High Court,” she told a Court of Appeal bench chaired by Justice Che Ruzima Ghazali.
Also on the panel was Justice Azmi Ariffin.
Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who is representing Khairuddin, said he had no objections to the request. He said the issue of malice to be ventilated during the appeal relates to the 1MDB saga.
Che Ruzima said Azmi and he were also informed that Sequerah is “uncomfortable” hearing the appeal.
Sequerah continues to preside over the ongoing 1MDB trial despite his elevation to the appeals court at the beginning of last year.
The empanelling of judges to hear criminal and civil appeals in the Court of Appeal is carried out by the Court of Appeal President.
A case management will be held on Monday to fix a new hearing date.
The hearing was first postponed on Nov 27 last year by then bench chairman Justice M Nantha Balan. He said it would be more appropriate for the matter to be heard in open court rather than online as it involved a public interest issue.
The appeal originates from a decision handed down in the High Court. On Aug 24, 2022, Justice Quay Chew Soon ruled that Khairuddin had been unlawfully detained.
In his judgment, Quay noted that Khairuddin was first arrested on Sept 18, 2015 for the alleged offence of attempting to commit activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, following a police report lodged by an individual known as Mohd Faizal.
The judge said he did not see any basis for the arrest under Section 124C of the Penal Code.
During the trial, the court was told that Khairuddin was rearrested six days later in the vicinity of the court on suspicion of attempting to sabotage the country’s banking and financial system.
He was released on bail on Nov 18 that year after another court held that Khairuddin’s Section 124C Penal Code charge did not fall under Sosma.
In respect of the second arrest, Quay said: “The defendant’s (government’s) witnesses failed to justify why Khairuddin had to be arrested and remanded under Sosma.”
However, he dismissed Khairuddin’s claim for malicious prosecution, saying the court was not convinced that the government and police acted maliciously when charging Khairuddin and lawyer Matthias Chang on Oct 12, 2015.
Khairuddin had filed a suit against then Bukit Aman officers Wan Aeidil Wan Abdullah and Muniandy Chelliah, former Dang Wangi deputy police chief Habibi Majinji and former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar in May 2018, seeking damages for unlawful detention.
Also named in the suit were then deputy public prosecutor Masri Daud, former senior federal counsel Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, former attorney-general Apandi Ali and the government.
Khairuddin, a former Batu Kawan Umno division deputy chief, alleged that the police action against him was conducted with malicious intent, violated his right to freedom and tarnished his reputation and image as a politician.