Pengiran Dr Hj Ismail bin Pengiran Hj Damit

Bandar Seri Begawan - The much delayed corruption case of the former Brunei development minister and his alleged accomplice, a top building contractor, has been unexpectedly delayed as another hiccup temporarily surfaced in the Brunei High Court yesterd

The High Court trial against Pengiran Indera Wijaya Pg Dr Hj Ismail and Managing Director of Ted Sendirian Berhad, Wong Tim Kai, hit a snag again when defendant No 2 Wong did not turn up for the first hearing since it was postponed months ago.

Prosecution led by Andrew Mcrae SC is giving another chance for Wong to attend the hearing today before considering his absence yesterday.

Wong's lawyers, Balwant Singh Sidhu, said in a letter that he needed time to instruct his client.

The case involving the ex-minister and one of Brunei's prominent businessman was put on hold several times due to many reasons including the continued ill health of the former chief justice, who was the trial judge at first, and the untimely death of Christopher Fernando, counsel for the former minister, in January 2008.

Also the disbarring of leading counsel for Wong in February 2008, which was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in May 2008, for failure to disclose his previous convictions for contempt of court in Malaysia when seeking admission to the Brunei Bar.

Both defendants face three charges of corruption under Section 6 (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and eight charges connected with the former minister's alleged acceptance of advantages as a public servant under section 165 of the Penal Code.

Faced with this prospect of interminable adjournments, leading counsel for the persecution Andrew Mcrae appealed on February 9 and 14 this year for the trial judge to discharge himself from further hearing the case.

After careful consideration and having taken medical advice, the Chief Justice ordered on February 26 that he would discontinue hearing the case in view of his health and that the trial should take place before another judge.

Pg Dr Hj Ismail is represented by Counsel Ahmad Basuni.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Related Story: Counsel Ponder Poser Of Missing Defendant

Comments (1)

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double standard
written by Colas , September 29, 2009

If this is a case involving the average 'normal people', will it be allowed to drag, delay, postpone, or put on hold along?

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