Appellate court dismisses Zahid Hamidi's bid to get passport returned for Umrah

PUTRAJAYA (May 14): Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pictured) has failed to get his impounded passport returned to travel to Mecca to perform the Umrah during Ramadhan, following the dismissal of his appeal for the return of the document today.

The Court of Appeal's three-member bench, led by Justice Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid, was unanimous in its dismissal of the appeal. The other members of the bench were Court of Appeal judges Justice Datuk Harminder Singh Dhaliwal and Justice Stephen Chung Hian Guan.

Ahmad Zahid's lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik confirmed the appellate court's decision to theedgemarkets.com. He also said he has not received any instructions on whether to appeal today's decision to the Federal Court.

Hisyam appeared together with Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal and Kitson Foong for Ahmad Zahid, while deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi, DPP Gan Peng Kun and DPP Mohamad Afif Ali opposed the appeal.

The former deputy prime minister reportedly wanted to go to Mecca in the last 10 days of the fasting month to perform the pilgrimage.

Ahmad Zahid's bid to get his passport returned was earlier rejected on May 3 by High Court judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

"From my understanding of the submission, the performance of the Umrah, although highly recommended during the fasting month, is not something compulsory. That is therefore not a desperate need, nor is there an obligation, on the applicant to perform the Umrah.

"Although the applicant has been performing the Umrah for the last 30 years, the situation and circumstances currently prevailing are very different, with that he is presently facing serious and numerous charges.

"The presumption of innocence against the accused must be balanced with the fact that with like of the seriousness of the charges, the likelihood and risk of absconding that can all be discounted. So the application for the release of passport is dismissed," the High Court judge had said when making the ruling.

Ahmad Zahid is facing 47 charges, comprising 12 charges of criminal breach of trust, eight charges of corruption and 27 charges of money laundering, involving millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.

Justice Sequerah has fixed Nov 18 to 22, Dec 2 to Dec 6, and Dec 9 to Dec 13 to hear the charges.

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