The Kuala Lumpur High Court today quashed PKR vice-president Mohd Azmin Ali's perjury conviction and sentencing, agreeing with the finding of a lower Sessions Court which heard the case in 1999.

Justice Abdul Kadir Musa said he agreed with the decision of Sessions judge Hamdan Endah and set aside Azmin's conviction and the 18-month jail sentence for giving false evidence while testifying at former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's corruption trial.

"I am in full agreement with (Hamdan) that the prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case as charged against the appellant.

"That being my considered conclusion, it would not be necessary for me to go further but to allow the accused's appeal and set aside the order of conviction and sentence," he read from his 30-page judgment.

The two hearings

The case was heard twice by the Sessions Court.

The first hearing was before Hamdan who held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Azmin for allegedly making differing statements during Anwar's trial and his complaint to magistrate Azhar Othman during a remand proceeding.

Hamdan then acquitted the PKR vice president without calling for his defence in 1999. However, the prosecution appealed against the acquittal on Feb 17, 2000.

The appeal was allowed by High Court judge Abdul Wahab Patail, who ordered the case to be sent back to the Sessions Court for Azmin to enter his defence.

The fresh trial was then heard before Sessions judge Akhtar Tahir who found Azmin guilty under Section 193 of the Penal Code, stating that he was satisfied that there were discrepancies in Azmin's statements on May 2, 2001.

He sentenced the politician to 18 months' jail but the conviction was stayed pending the disposal of the appeal which was decided by Abdul Kadir today.

Currently based in Ipoh, Abdul Kadir noted that he disagreed with Abdul Wahab's 'speculative' interpretation of Azmin's statements and explained in detail that the discrepancies in the statements were justified.

Independent judges

Immediately after the judgment, Azmin - who was standing at the dock - broke into a smile and embraced his wife Shamshida Taharin.

Approached to comment, Azmin said: "It is a big relief for me and I am very grateful because the appeal has gone on for far too long. Since my acquittal in July 1999, the appeal has gone on for almost nine years now.

"Certainly this decision has strengthened my belief that while we need a total reform of the present judiciary system, there are good judges out there who will act independently and would not let themselves be dictated by the executive," he said.

About 30 supporters were present to throw their support behind Azmin, including PKR vice president R Sivarasa and information chief Tian Chua.

Azmin was represented by lawyers CV Prabhakaran, Christopher Fernando and Gurcharan Singh Sohan while deputy public prosecutor Shamsul Sulaiman appeared for the government.