Lim Guan Eng’s lawyers say they have no intention of getting the deputy public prosecutor handling the former Penang chief minister’s undersea tunnel graft trial recused, following his comments on the case.
Lawyer Ramkarpal Singh said they wished to proceed with the case which has been pending for over five years.
He said they might file a recusal application if deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin issued further statements on Lim and the case.
Earlier today, Ramkarpal told the court that Wan Shaharuddin had “concluded” that Lim’s ongoing case was “linked” to a robbery that took place at the home of a witness, G Gnanaraja, this month.
“A DPP should present a case fairly and not take sides. The police said the robbery (incident) has nothing to do with our case,” he said.
In his defence, Wan Shaharuddin said he had never linked Lim’s case to the robbery, and that he was only responding to a media query on whether Gnanaraja would be accorded witness protection.
“Anything about witness protection needs approval from the (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) chief commissioner.
“There is nothing for me to explain or apologise for (to Lim) and we don’t have to prolong this issue,” he added.
The hearing continues on Aug 27.
Lim is standing trial on charges of using his position as then Penang chief minister to ask Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli for a 10% cut of the profits from the undersea tunnel project and accepting a total of RM3.3 million in kickbacks between 2011 and 2017 from the businessman.
He is also accused of two counts of dishonestly misappropriating RM208.7 million worth of state land.
