KUALA LUMPUR, APRIL 3 — The lawyer for Mohd Ridhuan Giman, who called the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) on himself last year, asked the Shariah Court today to dismiss the charge of making a false report by claiming double jeopardy.
During the first mention of the case at the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court here, Yusfa Hanis Yussoff said the charge meant Mohd Ridhuan faced the prospect of being penalised twice for the same incident.
“My client has already been tried and fined on the charge of making a false report and I ask that this charge be dropped as it would mean that my client would be facing the same charge twice,” he said in court.
He then cited the constitutional article that precludes an individual from being punished more than once for any single offence to support his application.
Presiding judge Abu Zaky Mohammed did not immediately drop the charge, but directed the defence to prepare and submit a formal application on the matter.
He then set April 4 to hear the second charge of insulting or bringing disrepute to Islam, under the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997.
Mohd Ridhuan was previously fined by the Magistrates’ Court for making a false report, under Section 182 of the Penal Code.
His wife, Siti Sarah Maulad Abdullah, 26, was charged with aiding and abetting under the same law and similarly fined.
The couple and Mohd Ridhuan’s mother previously sued Jawi for wrongful arrest, wrongful confinement, trespass to person, violation of privacy, tort of abuse of office and violation of the duo’s rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement under the Federal Constitution’s Articles 5 and 9.
The lawsuit stemmed from a Jawi raid on January 8, 2017 based on a public tip-off, which later turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by the couple.
The lawsuit against Jawi was a major news event last year.
The couple withdrew the lawsuit earlier this year.
