KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has fixed Oct 14 to hear the prosecution’s application to impose a sentence against former Umno supreme council member Isham Jalil (pic) for contempt of court.
Justice Noorin Badaruddin set the date on Wednesday (July 10) after DPP Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam informed the court that Isham’s representation to the Attorney General’s Chambers on March 25 had been rejected.
Isham, whose full name is Hizatul Isham Abdul Jalil, had submitted the representation to make an open and unconditional apology to the judiciary over his statement in an interview regarding Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and SRC International Sdn Bhd cases.
The court also fixed Sept 25 for case management.
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Also present at the proceedings on Wednesday were DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib and Isham’s lawyer Tan Sri Azhar Harun.
On Dec 28, in an ex-parte application, the AG applied for leave from the High Court to initiate committal proceedings against Isham to imprison or impose a fine on him.
In an interview, Isham commented on the trial and appeal of Najib in the SRC International and 1MDB cases.
His comments were published on the "The Malaya Post" Facebook page on Sept 30 last year.
The AG claimed that in the interview, Isham allegedly challenged the recusal process involving Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who presided over the 1MDB trial at the High Court here.
"The respondent, among other things, gave explicit or implicit comments that allegedly meant that the judge acted with bias in deciding the application.
"In addition, the respondent also disputed the appeal process at the Federal Court of the SRC International case between Najib and the public prosecutor.
"The respondent gave explicit or implicit comments that implied the appeal was judged unfairly by the Federal Court panel led by the Chief Justice," stated the AG.
On March 4, Justice Noorin allowed the AG leave to initiate the contempt proceedings, being satisfied that a prima facie case had been established against Isham.