KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Prosecutors were adamant on charging a man for calling the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) on himself last year, despite the defence’s claim that it would constitute double jeopardy.
During today’s hearing of the case against Mohd Ridhuan Giman, 34, and Siti Sarah Maulad Abdullah, 26, at the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court, here prosecutor Mohamad Shahidan bin Abdul Ghapar insisted it was “not possible” to do so.
“The charge of insulting members of the religious authorities stems from the charge of lodging a false report with Jawi, which caused the incident in the first place.
“As such it is our view that the accused cannot be tried for only the charge of insulting a member of the religious authorities under Section 7 (c),” said Mohamad Shahidan, who was part of a four-prosecutor team.
His defence team previously applied for the false report charge to be dropped, on the grounds that he had already been fined by the magistrates court for the same offence.
Lawyer Yusfa Hanis Yussoff represented Mohd Ridhuan while Siti Sarah was represented by Mohd Imran Abd Ghafar.
Today, Yustafa argued that proceeding with the redundant charge would have serious implications, including against the constitutional safeguard against repeated punishments for the same offence.
“It is about being fair to a human being, whatever offence that they have been charged with, and to ensure we are not faced with duplicity in our legal process,” he added.
Judge Abu Zaky Mohammed then set April 20 for the next hearing, but reminded the prosecution that all parties had agreed on hearing one charge against Mohd Ridhuan Giman during the first hearing on Tuesday.
“As agreed, today’s hearing was with regards to Section 7 (c) , while the application to have the charges of making a false report were to be submitted,” he said, adding that the prosecution could appeal later.
Mohd Ridhuan was previously fined RM1,500 by the magistrates court for making a false report, under Section 182 of the Penal Code.
Siti Sarah 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 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.
