Appeals court allows return of Isa Samad’s passport for UK trip

The Court of Appeal today allowed an application by former Felda chairman Isa Samad for the temporary return of his passport, which had been surrendered to the court, to enable him to travel to the UK for his stepdaughter’s convocation ceremony at a university there on March 30.

A panel of three judges led by Kamaludin Md Said said the passport, which would be handed over to Isa on March 14, should be returned to the court on April 16.

Kamaludin, who sat with Lee Heng Cheong and Ghazali Cha, allowed the application after hearing submissions from lawyer Wan Azmir Wan Majid, representing Isa.

Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz did not object to the application.

Wan Azmir, in his submission, said his client had to leave for the UK on March 26 to attend his stepdaughter’s convocation ceremony and would return to Malaysia on April 9.

“I request that the passport be handed over to the applicant as soon as possible because it needs to be renewed. My client will return to Malaysia on April 9 and I request that he be allowed to return the passport by April 16,” he said.

He also informed the court that Isa had taken care of his stepdaughter since she was a child.

On Feb 3 last year, Isa, 72, was convicted of nine corruption charges involving RM3 million in connection with Felda’s purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching, Sarawak.

He was sentenced to six years’ jail on each count. However, he only has to serve six years in prison after the judge ordered the prison sentences to run concurrently.

On Feb 4, 2021, the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

The appeal has been set for case management before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Mohd Khairi Haron on May 11.