00:00The defence of former Youth and Sports Ministry Finance Division Secretary
00:04Ottoman Arsad told the Kuala Lumpur High Court
00:07that he was deprived of the opportunity for a fair trial.
00:11Lawyer Mohamed Rafik Rashid Ali, representing the 67-year-old,
00:16said there was no indication in the grounds of judgment
00:18that the second session's court judge had comprehensively assessed
00:22the evidence of all prosecution witnesses.
00:26He said the case was initially heard before another judge,
00:30who heard the testimony of prosecution witnesses 1 to 63,
00:33as well as part of the testimony of witness 64.
00:37The second judge then took over the case before ruling
00:41that there was a prima facie case against Ottoman on June 22, 2022.
00:47Mohamed Rafik said the second judge did not hear most of the prosecution witnesses,
00:53including key witnesses,
00:54and there was no indication that the judge had reviewed the earlier notes of evidence.
01:00He also questioned whether the judge had considered the court audio recordings,
01:04transcripts, and cross-examination of the witnesses before reaching a decision.
01:09The lawyer stressed that the defence was not challenging the change of judge,
01:14but questioned whether the second judge had properly considered
01:17the entirety of the prosecution's evidence.
01:19He argued that the failure to consider matters central to the case could amount to a misdirection
01:25and result in a miscarriage of justice.
01:28Mohamed Rafik also said the second judge had described Ottoman's defence
01:32as a denial, fabrication, and an afterthought,
01:36despite not being present when most of the prosecution evidence was given.
01:40Ottoman is appealing against his conviction and sentence of 15 years' imprisonment
01:45and a 284.2 million ringgit fine over 32 charges involving abuse of power
01:52and 64 money laundering charges.
01:55Proceedings before High Court Judge Noor Ruwina Madnurdin continue on Tuesday.
02:02Proceedings before High Court Judge Noor Ruwina Madnurdin continue on Tuesday.
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