SHAH ALAM, June 8 ― The Magistrate’s Court here today issued a warrant of arrest against Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos for not showing up at the court for the remention of his case of smashing beer bottles at the front gate of the Selangor State Secretary (SUK) Building here, last year.

Magistrate Raja Noor Adilla Raja Mahyaldin issued the warrant upon application filed by deputy public prosecutor Amira Haziqah Zulkifli.

"The accused was aware that today was set for remention. The other day, he did not even wait to complete the bail process and his lawyer has yet to be able to locate him. So, I will issue a warrant of arrest,” she said.

The court also set July 11 as the new date for remention of the case.

On May 25, Jamal pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing public nuisance by smashing beer bottles in front of the SUK Building here on October 5, 2017.

The proceeding was conducted at the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital in Kuala Lumpur at which Jamal was undergoing treatment for his back pain, but he was reported missing from the hospital at 5.30pm the same day by the Shah Alam Court Registrar who handled his bail documentation process.

The Ampang Magistrate’s Court on June 1 issued a warrant of arrest against Jamal under Section 224 of the Penal Code for escaping from valid detention.

Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun was reported as saying that Jamal was believed to have fled to Indonesia using a rat route and that effort was being done to track him down.

In today’s proceeding earlier, Jamal’s lawyer Datuk Imran Tamrin requested to the court to set a new date for remention as he had yet to be able to contact his client to seek further instructions.

"I will try to find my client so that he can attend the proceeding on the new date,” he said.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Imran said the last time he met with Jamal was during the proceeding at the hospital and that he had learned about his client’s development from other parties.

"He did not even notify his lawyers about his video media statement and we only learned about it through the social media or a third party.

"We do keep in touch with his family, but even they do not know where he is now,” he said.

Imran also called on Jamal to give cooperation to the police and the court to enable his case to be solved immediately and also to avoid other legal implications. ― Bernama