JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 2 — Six men claimed trial at the Magistrate and Sessions Courts here to charges of rioting with weapons and causing grievous hurt to a man at Taman Mount Austin here last month.

The accused, Choy Soon Chye, 41; Soh Say Shin, 36; Soo Toh Siang, 30; Calvin Phua Khim Hau, 29; Yap See Hong, 26; and Tan Shen Qi, 21, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out before Sessions Court Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail.

According to the charge sheet, the six men had allegedly acted with a joint intention to cause grievous harm to Low Chun Yong, 28, using weapons such as a meat cleaver, a taser gun, a plastic chair and an iron rod, which can potentially cause death. 

They were charged under Section 326 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons and were read together with Section 34 of the same Code under joint criminal liability which carries a maximum imprisonment term of 20 years and whipping or a fine upon conviction.

The accused were alleged to have committed the offence in front of a restaurant in Taman Mount Austin here at 3.30am on December 27.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Afdhallan Syafiq Azmy, while five of the accused were represented by counsel T. Haresh. Defence counsel Amarpreet Singh Rajwinder Singh represented Calvin Phua as the sixth accused.

The court set bail at RM10,000 each with a local guarantor, in addition to surrendering their international passports and reporting to the nearest police station once a month.

Meanwhile, the six accused also claimed trial in the Magistrate’s Court here to the charge of rioting, possession of a knife and a plastic chair, which are deemed as weapons at the same location, time and date. 

The accused pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out before Magistrate Muhammad Fitri Mokhtar. 

They were charged under Section 148 of the Penal Code for armed rioting, which carries a maximum imprisonment of five years or a fine or both.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohamad Afdhallan Syafiq Azmy and Siti Aishah Latif acted for the prosecution.

Five of the accused were represented by Haresh, while Amarpreet Singh represented Phua.

The court then allowed bail of RM3,500 for each of the accused, with additional conditions of three sureties each, reporting to the nearest police station and surrendering their international passports.

The court set February 3 for mention and the submission of documents.

On Monday, Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad was reported saying that the armed rioting involving a group of 13 men in Taman Mount Austin on December 27 stemmed from dissatisfaction following a RM100,000 deposit.

In the incident, the 27-year-old victim accompanied his friend in front of a restaurant to discuss terms after he lent his personal account for the deposit. 

It was learnt that the victim wanted a fee for allowing his bank account to be used for the large deposit.

However, the discussion turned into a verbal misunderstanding that resulted in the victim being attacked, while his friend managed to flee.

Video footage of the brawl were widely shared on social media and became viral the next day.