PUTRAJAYA, Jan 9 ― The Court of Appeal here today upheld the acquittal of a shipping clerk who was accused of performing oral sex and fondling a six-year-old boy's private part in 2012.
A three-member bench comprising Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais unanimously dismissed the prosecution's appeal and upheld the decisions of the Magistrate and the High Court to acquit Azri Othman.
“There is no appealable error that warrants the appellate court intervention,” said Justice Hanipah who chaired the bench.
The prosecution had appealed to the Court of Appeal, seeking the court to remit the case back to the Magistrate’s Court for Azri to enter his defence.
Azri, 49, was charged at the Kulim Magistrate's Court under Section 377E of the Penal Code for allegedly inciting a child under the age of 14 into an act of gross indecency.
He is accused of committing the offence on the victim, who was six years old then, at a house in Kulim, Kedah, between the month of May 2012 and Sept 12, 2012.
Azri was, however, acquitted by the Magistrate's Court on April 3, 2016, without his defence being called.
The prosecution appealed to the Alor Setar High Court but its appeal was dismissed on June 7, 2017.
Azri was represented by lawyer Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim appeared for the prosecution. ― Bernama
