PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi expressed gratitude to the Attorney-General for withdrawing the prosecution's appeals against his acquittal on 40 charges of corruption related to the Foreign Visa System (VLN) two years ago.
"Alhamdullilah. I am thankful to Allah. I have never stopped praying to Allah," he said after court proceedings today.
The first thing the deputy prime minister did after emerging from the court room was to head to the court complex's surau to pray.
He was surrounded by several leaders such as Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Datuk Johan Abd Aziz.
A Court of Appeal (CoA) panel today struck off the prosecution's appeals against Zahid, who is Rural and Regional Development Minister and Umno president.
This came after deputy public prosecutor Datuk Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim said the AG wished to withdraw the appeals because there was a strong legal and factual basis to uphold the High Court judge's decision to free Zahid from the charges.
Zahid's lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said they were grateful to the Attorney-General's Chambers for considering his client's two representations which sought the prosecution to withdraw its appeals.
"The representations were considered on a positive basis."Essentially, the appeals are fact sensitive as emphasised by the prosecution and that the High Court judge did not make any errors whatsoever in his findings when he acquitted Zahid at the prima facie stage.
"This good news took us by surprise as today was set for hearing and we came prepared for it," he said.