Dato JC Fong and Mohd Adzrul (left) leaving the courtroom.
KUCHING (Dec 18): The High Court here today rejected Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen’s application to get the state government to disclose documents in relation to projects funded by a certain RM11 billion budget.
When dismissing the application, Judicial Commissioner Alexander Siew said he agreed with the government’s arguments that the documents, even if they existed, were irrelevant to the defamation case against Chong and not to be produced at the trial.
Chong, who is also State Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman and Stampin MP, had wanted all documents relating to the borrowings in US Dollars by Sarawak Capital Assets Sdn Bhd, SGOS Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Technology Holding Sdn Bhd, Delegateam Sdn Bhd and Aquasar Sdn Bhd vide Syndicated Loan Notes or issuance of Bonds under the Sukuk Murabahah Programme; minutes of meetings of the said companies which are all wholly owned by State Financial Secretary Incorporated; and documents relating to payments made by those companies to third parties.
On Monday State Legal Counsel Dato JC Fong through legal officer Mohd Adzrul Adzlan submitted that the State Government objected to the production of documents at the trial because they irrelevant to the case.
The State government was suing Chong for libel because of statements in the DAP pamphlet distributed by Chong at a press conference on Jan 2, 2013 claiming that over RM11 billion of State funds disappeared into a “blackhole” for the benefit of cronies and crony companies of some State Government leaders.
Fong argued that the documents Chong sought to be produced in Court, if they existed, belonged to companies wholly owned by the State Finance Secretary Incorporated and not to cronies or crony companies.
Moreover, Chong had not proven the documents existed as he was only made aware that there could be such documents from a website called Global Witness, said Fong.
“Therefore Chong is going on a ‘fishing expedition’ in an attempt to find documents which are not related to supporting his defence that the RM11 billion went into a blackhole to benefit cronies of the State Government,” Fong added.
The High Court today fixed Jan 7, 2021 for trial after refusing an application by Chong Siew Chiang the leading counsel for the defendant to postpone the hearing.
Fong was assisted by State legal officers Mohd Adzrul and Oliver Chua while Siew Chiang was assisted by Counsel Michael Kong.
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