Yesterday’s trial of the city’s former top prosecutor, Ho Chio Meng, was halted after only approximately 20 minutes.
As usual, the session started at 9.30 a.m., but soon after its commencement, Ho told the judges about his physical condition, stating he was feeling tired and dizzy.
Ho then requested he be excused from the hearing “under the condition that it will not affect the trial.”
The collegial panel then retired for 15 minutes to confer. Upon their return, presiding judge Sam Hou Fai announced the cancellation of the trial.
Ho’s lawyer, Leong Weng Pun, stated that his client’s absence would not affect the trial and it need not be cancelled.
However, Sam turned down the appeal on the basis that the court needed to consider Ho’s overall condition.
As the court emptied, Ho was escorted by the Correctional Services Bureau’s officers to the Centro Hospitalar Conde de São Januário (CHCSJ) for a health checkup.
The Hospital was required to inform the court before 4 p.m. yesterday if Ho could be present at the trial today. If yesterday had gone according to schedule, there would have been one witness called in the morning to provide testimony.
While Ho’s trial was adjourned, at the Court of First Instance, defendant Wong Kuok Wai, who is accused of opening shelf companies along with Ho and other defendants, answered questions regarding Ho’s case.
Five other defendants, who were absent from the first session, were still absent from yesterday’s proceedings.
Wong said that he is a friend of Mak Im Tai (one of the defendants). The prosecutors expressed doubt over how their companies could be awarded service contracts by the Prosecution Office, since the companies had no experience in related services.
Wong suggested that it might have been because the MP was confident in their skills as a consequence of the previous projects their companies had completed.
According to a report by TDM, Wong, at the court, said that he maintains a casual friendship with Ho Chio Shun (Ho’s brother), who is also accused of having participated in the establishment of said shelf companies. JZ
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