SHAH ALAM, July 11 — Red Shirts leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos escaped jail with a RM400 fine for causing public nuisance with a beer-smashing stunt at the Selangor state secretariat building last year.
The Sungai Besar Umno division chief had pleaded guilty to committing the offence under Section 290 of the Penal Code and was given the maximum fine in default of a month behind bars by Magistrate Raja Noor Adilla Raja Mahyaldin today.
Jamal’s lawyer Datuk Imran Tamrin had earlier argued for a lower penalty, saying his client had the intention to “protect the public interest” during the October 5, 2017 incident.
“Jamal was raised as a good Muslim and his faith prompted him to put a stop to a western culture that is foreign to Malaysia.
“I hope the court will take into account his contributions to the people of Sungai Besar as their local leader,” the lawyer said.
Jamal, who was given the permission to address the magistrate directly, apologised for his stunt, calling it a mere “media gimmick” to draw attention to the beer festival which he alleged would corrupt the morals of Selangor youths.
“I ordered my assistant to buy 10 crates of Tiger beer worth RM1,800 but we put on another label on those bottles so as to not smear the brand’s name and reputation.
“As a leader, I opposed the festival because it will bring more bane than boon to the society. I was just trying to protect the interests of our youths,” he said in court.
He then pleaded for the minimum penalty, claiming he had plans to clean up the mess but was not given the opportunity to do so after being told to leave immediately by officers on the ground.
“Maybe what I did caused a lot of trouble to a lot of people but I did not have any intention to cause a riot.
“You can see from pictures that we had trucks on standby to clean up after ourselves but we were told to leave immediately,” he said.
Previously on May 25, he claimed trial when the charge was read to him at a specialist hospital in Ampang, where he was seeking treatment for back pain, in front of the same Magistrate.
A bail of RM3,000 was set pending the next hearing, which was initially scheduled on June 8, but Jamal fled police custody before the bail was even processed.
He had allegedly tried to hide in a few locations before being discovered by the Indonesian police on July 2 and extradited to Malaysia, three days later.
As soon as he landed, he was brought to Ampang Courts for a different offence where he was denied bail and forced to stay in custody at Sg Buloh prison until the next hearing on July 30.
Yesterday, Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor said Jamal will likely face another charge under Section 51 of the Immigration Act 1953/1963 for using illegal means to leave the country.
