JOHOR BARU, Feb 12 — Four men today claimed trial at the Magistrate’s Court here on charges of attempted assault on Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman with the intention of dishonouring him at the end of last month.
The accused, Norhanizam Ithnain, 38; Mohd Iskandar Masindra Rasidi, 37; Mohd Iskandar Afiq Abd Razak, 26, and Ezzul Emran Abdul Rahim, 23, pleaded not guilty on the charge before Magistrate Mohd Zaki Abd Rahman.
According to the charge sheet, the four were alleged to have conducted the offence at the Savannah Hill Resort’s campside in Ulu Tiram here at 9.30pm on January 31.
The accused were charged under Section 355 of the Penal Code which was read together with Section 34 of the same law.
Under Section 355 of the Penal Code, whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any person, intending thereby to dishonour that person, otherwise than on grave and sudden provocation given by that person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or both.
Section 34 handles a collective crime.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Faizal Noorhadi sought bail of RM15,000 each on the grounds that the incident involved an elected representative and is also a minister.
Lawyer for the accused, Izzat Muhtar, sought for a reduction of the bail amount on the grounds that the four had cooperated with police investigations into the case.
Mohd Zaki fixed the bail amount at RM7,000 each with one surety, in addition with the four accused required to report monthly at the Seri Alam district police headquarters.
He also set March 15 for mention of the case.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Muhammad Syafiq Mohd Ghazali and Chan Choon Yew also represented the prosecution, while Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia legal counsel Shufri Samad held a watching brief.
On January 31, Syed Saddiq was reportedly heckled by an aggressive mob while attending a Bersatu Youth event in Ulu Tiram here, together with his parents.
The group, dressed mainly in black, surrounded the minister’s table before they yelled and harassed those with him, and demanded that he leave Johor.
The 27-year-old Muar MP was then forced to scale a fence to leave the venue in an attempt to avoid the fracas.
