KUCHING, Dec 17 — The Sessions Court here today acquitted and discharged Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen and former Stampin Member of Parliament Julian Tan Kok Ping from a joint charge of taking part in an illegal assembly two years ago.
Judge Steve Ritikos made the decision after the prosecution withdrew the charge against them on the instruction of the federal Attorney General’s Chambers.
Senior Federal Counsel Isa Hassim and DPP Hayda Faridzal appeared for the prosecution, while the defence team was made up of counsels Roger Chin, Chong Siew Chiang and Michael Kong.
Today was fixed for pre-trial case management for determining the dates of the trial.
On behalf of the defence team, Chin asked the court to acquit and discharge the two accused, saying that the charge should not be allowed to hang over their heads indefinitely.
He said just withdrawing the charge against them would not be enough as there is no guarantee that they will not face the same charge at later date.
“There must be a finality to this case,” he said, adding that Chong and Tan must be allowed to have a peace of mind without fear of facing the same charge again.
The court then acquitted and discharged them.
Chong and Tan were charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act with participating in an illegal street protest from the Hilton Hotel to the Song Kheng Hai rugby field during the Bersih rally here.
They were accused of committing the offence between 2pm and 3pm on August 20, 2015.
However, Ritikos on September 14, 2017 had acquitted them from an illegal assembly charge, ruling that they had no prima facie case to answer.
Ritikos had said the walk from the hotel to the rugby field did not constitute a street protest.
He had said this was because the ground was the approved venue for the rally and the hotel was one of four designated parking areas for participants.
On April 6 this year, High Court judge Ravindran Paramaguru reversed the lower court’s decision and ordered Chong and Tan to enter their defence, after the prosecution succeeded in its appeal against their acquittal and discharge.
He then ordered the case to be transferred back to the same lower court for Chong and Tan to enter their defence, saying that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against them.
