Khir Toyo may seek royal pardon, lawyer says
(Malay Mail Online) – Former Selangor Mentri Besar Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo may consider filing a petition for royal pardon as one way to escape the Federal Court’s decision today to uphold his one-year jail term for corruption, lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said.
Shafee also told reporters after sentencing today that with the imprisonment, Khir Toyo stands to lose his pension.
“Pardon is an option, but before we take the option, we are considering another option. There is another serious option, but we need to see the written judgment,” he said after the Federal Court delivered its decision.
Shafee also confirmed that an application to seek for a review of the Federal Court’s decision would be another available option, but declined to disclose Mohamad Khir’s legal team’s next move until they view the written judgment, which has yet to be released.
With today’s sentencing decision, Shafee confirmed that his client will be sent to jail directly as there is no avenue for stay of the final decision, although the actual time spent physically in jail would be around nine months due to remission.
Shafee said he was expecting a more lenient sentence for his client, who he said had not taken a bribe.
“You can see every one of the counsel are shocked by the finding of guilt because we are absolutely confident that the Federal Court is wrong,” he also told reporters when commenting on the affirming of his client’s conviction.
Earlier today, the Federal Court upheld the one-year jail term previously meted out to Dr Mohamad Khir by a lower court, also maintaining the forfeiture of the land that he had underpaid for back in 2007.
Last Tuesday, the Federal Court panel ruled that the offence was proven beyond reasonable doubt when it unanimously upheld Mohamad Khir’s previous conviction under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which comes with a maximum two-year jail term or fine or both.
On December 23, 2011, the Shah Alam High Court convicted Mohamad Khir of corruptly using his position as then Selangor MB and Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) chairman to obtain land and property below the market price in 2007.
He was given a 12-month jail sentence after being found guilty of obtaining two plots of land and a bungalow in Section 7, Shah Alam for himself and his wife Zahrah Kechik, from Ditamas Sdn Bhd through its director Datuk Shamsuddin Hayroni with the inadequate payment of RM3.5 million in 2007.
He was charged with knowingly obtaining a valuable thing as a public servant without paying adequate consideration for the property that Ditamas had itself purchased at RM6.5 million in December 2004, and doing so with the knowledge that Shamsuddin had official dealings with him.
On May 30, 2013, Mohamad Khir lost his appeal at the Court of Appeal against his conviction and one-year jail term.
