KUALA LUMPUR – The Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted businessman Datuk Seri Sim Choo Thiam permission to obtain a written statement of facts in his favour.
This statement will be provided for his upcoming trial on four graft charges.
High Court Judge K. Muniandy ruled that the session court judge’s decision was legally incorrect because Section 51A(1)(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code was not fully understood and applied.
The situation has led to Sim suffering injustice prior to his trial. Therefore, Muniandy granted the deputy public prosecutor 14 days to provide the necessary documents from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“The circumstances of the accused’s (Sim) case, pursuant to the charges preferred, are also not fully considered before disallowing the accused’s application. Moreover, the judgement was without reason (and) thus lacks basis.
“Granting the accused favourable facts does not impinge on the prosecutorial discretion of the public prosecutor.
“It does not forbid the investigative powers of the MACC, as they are not curtailed until the completion of the trial. Exigencies may arise that warrant and justify further investigation,” he said in a proceeding note.
On July 4 last year, Sim filed a notice of motion for a written statement of facts that would be in favour of him, including the fact that the MACC had only recorded a statement from former home minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin after Sim was charged in May of the same year.
The statement also said that both Sim’s cautioned statements recorded by the MACC on February 16 and 28 last year contained exculpatory statements, which did not corroborate “any ingredient” of the alleged offences in each of his corruption charges.
For this, Muniandy said that only the exculpatory statements contained in both the cautioned statements are to be disclosed, and not to the extent of unsupportive “ingredients” of the offence in Sim’s charge.
Sim was represented by Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Low Wei Loke, and Kee Wei Lon.
On May 10 last year, Sim was formally charged with soliciting RM15 million from Hep Kim Hong, the managing director of Asia Coding Centre Sdn Bhd, in June 2021.
The sum was purportedly offered as an inducement for Hamzah’s support in securing projects from the Home Ministry for Hep’s company. – March 21, 2024