The graft trial of former chief prosecutor Ho Chio Meng, which had been scheduled to start at the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) this morning, has been postponed by the court sine die because of an appeal by the defence against the participation of the president of the court, Sam Hou Fai, in the trial.
According to the TUI statement on Friday, Ho’s defence has requested Sam’s exclusion from the trial because the latter allowed the city’s graft busters access to the income and assets declarations of Ho and his wife when they were investigating the case. The defence also wants Sam to be barred from the trial because he chaired a hearing about Ho’s – unsuccessful – habeas corpus bid.
Ho has been in pre-trial detention since March. According to a TUI statement last month, Ho faces 1,970 charges including fraud, abuse of power, money laundering, illicit participation in business activities, document forgery and membership of a criminal organisation.
