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KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor will appeal his sentence, says his lawyer.
Datuk Tan Hock Chuan confirmed that the defense would file the appeal notice as soon as possible, perhaps even tomorrow (December 22).
Early Monday (December 21), during the trial, Tan had raised the issue of the slim majority of the current government, saying that while political developments should not be a concern, for sentencing purposes, the court’s decision would have effect.
Article 48 (1) (e) of the Federal Constitution states that parliamentarians are disqualified if they are found guilty of a crime and sentenced to a prison term of more than one year and fined more than 2,000 ringgit.
Under Article 48 (4) (b), upon such conviction, a deputy’s post will not be vacated, provided the deputy files an appeal within 14 days, and the post will not be vacated until they have been exhausted all legal avenues the sentence is upheld.
Tengku Adnan also could not compete in the next election if he does not resolve the sentence in his corruption case, says lawyer Syahredzan Johan.
Earlier Monday, High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan sentenced Tengku Adnan, better known as Ku Nan, to 12 months in jail and fined him RM2mil after finding him guilty in a RM2mil corruption case.
Syahredzan tweeted that the Putrajaya MP would not be qualified to contest if his appeal against the sentence was not allowed, or if the amount of the fine did not drop below the disqualification threshold.
He explained that a different section of Article 48 also prohibited deputies from running if they had a pending sentence, even if the appeal was pending.
When asked if Ku Nan’s defense that the slim majority in Parliament, where the current government would be affected if he were disqualified from his post as deputy, was a factor, Syahredzan believed that it did not affect the court’s decision.
“From the reports, the judge himself did not think it was relevant. So there is nothing to suggest that your decision took that into account.
“I cannot blame the defense attorney for referring that matter. You have a duty to disclose all potentially relevant circumstances to the judge, ”he told The Star.
Ku Nan was disqualified from contesting if his sentence was not modified by the Court of Appeal prior to GE15.
However, he held Putrajaya’s post until the appeal was dismissed and the sentence upheld. https://t.co/p1lrRrEGNG
– Syahredzan シ ア (@syahredzan) December 21, 2020
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