Human rights activist loses appeal to mount private charges against Islamic preachers Muhammad Zamri, Firdaus Wong for allegedly insulting non-Muslim practices

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 17 — The Court of Appeal today dismissed a final appeal by Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF) president S. Shashi Kumar to initiate private prosecution against preachers Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu and Firdaus Wong Wan Hung who are charged with insulting the beliefs and religious practices of non-Muslims.

In a unanimous decision, Judge Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, leading a three-judge panel, said Shashi failed to convince the panel of the error committed by Shah Alam High Court Judicial Commissioner Dr Wendy Ooi Su Ghee and Magistrate Mohamad Redza Azhar Rezali in the case.

“The magistrate’s decision to dismiss the appellant’s application and not continue the appellant’s examination in this case is correct and not a mistake.

“This court finds that both appeals are without merit, so the appellant’s appeal is dismissed and the decision of the Magistrate’s Court, confirmed by the High Court, is upheld,” said Judge Ahmad Zaidi.

The other two judges on the panel are Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.

In 2020, the police investigated the two preachers under Section 298A of the Penal Code for allegedly inciting enmity between different groups on religious or racial grounds.

On Jan 8, 2021, Shashi applied to conduct private prosecution at the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court and on Sept 3, 2021, Magistrate Mohamad Redza dismissed the application on the grounds that the police investigation against Zamri was No Further Action (NFA), while the investigation against Firdaus was still in progress at that time.

Following the decision, Shashi filed an appeal at the Shah Alam High Court and in March 2023, the court upheld the decision by the Magistrate.

(A private prosecution is a prosecution conducted by a private individual or entity, rather than a prosecuting authority with a statutory power to prosecute)

Prior to this, during a proceeding at the Court of Appeal, the court was informed by the prosecution that the Attorney-General’s Chamber (AGC) decided not to pursue the charges against the two preachers.

At the proceeding today, Shashi was represented by lawyer S. Ravichandran, while the prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Solehah Noratikah Ismail. — Bernama