KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regrets that some witnesses in corruption cases have given statements in court that contradict the ones given to the commission.
MACC Investigation Director Mustafar Ali said this resulted in some cases that had been taken to court being closed because the prosecution did not want to accept further statements from witnesses because of contradictions.
"When this happens, the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) has to close the case, so there are quarters who will point fingers at us, claiming that we do not carry out detailed investigation," he said when contacted by Bernama, here Thursday.
He said this forced the MACC to take action against case witnesses under Section 193 of the Penal Code for giving false statements which is punishable up to seven years in jail and a fine.
He said that as an example, in the corruption case involving Datuk Mohamad Norza Zakaria and his agent, Halimi Kamaruzaman, the accused were acquitted and discharged by the court because the statements by nine witnesses had contradicted the earlier statements given to the MACC.
Mustafar said when the statements by witnesses had changed, the prosecution had to withdraw the charges and stop taking statements from the witnesses.
In contradiction, he said the people who had been charged earlier were acquitted while the case witnesses were charged in court for perjury.
Mohamad Norza, 43, who was the former Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Umno Youth head was acquitted and discharged of corruption at the Temerloh Sessions Court Thursday morning after the prosecution declined to proceed with the case because the witnesses' statements contradicted with the ones given to the MACC.
Meanwhile, Norza in his statement through his lawyer, Datuk Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said the decision of the court Thursday was not surprising because all charges against him pertaining to money politics earlier had been dropped by the Umno Disciplinary Committee in March last year.
"Whether these witnesses were telling the truth at the trial (or in their statements) was a matter for the Temerloh trial court to decide," he said.
MACC Investigation Director Mustafar Ali said this resulted in some cases that had been taken to court being closed because the prosecution did not want to accept further statements from witnesses because of contradictions.
"When this happens, the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) has to close the case, so there are quarters who will point fingers at us, claiming that we do not carry out detailed investigation," he said when contacted by Bernama, here Thursday.
He said this forced the MACC to take action against case witnesses under Section 193 of the Penal Code for giving false statements which is punishable up to seven years in jail and a fine.
He said that as an example, in the corruption case involving Datuk Mohamad Norza Zakaria and his agent, Halimi Kamaruzaman, the accused were acquitted and discharged by the court because the statements by nine witnesses had contradicted the earlier statements given to the MACC.
Mustafar said when the statements by witnesses had changed, the prosecution had to withdraw the charges and stop taking statements from the witnesses.
In contradiction, he said the people who had been charged earlier were acquitted while the case witnesses were charged in court for perjury.
Mohamad Norza, 43, who was the former Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Umno Youth head was acquitted and discharged of corruption at the Temerloh Sessions Court Thursday morning after the prosecution declined to proceed with the case because the witnesses' statements contradicted with the ones given to the MACC.
Meanwhile, Norza in his statement through his lawyer, Datuk Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said the decision of the court Thursday was not surprising because all charges against him pertaining to money politics earlier had been dropped by the Umno Disciplinary Committee in March last year.
"Whether these witnesses were telling the truth at the trial (or in their statements) was a matter for the Temerloh trial court to decide," he said.
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