Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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(June 11): The Sessions Court will proceed with the trial of former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin tomorrow without the presence of the prime minister as the aggrieved party.

Nizar was charged with criminal defamation for allegedly making disparaging remarks against Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his speech three years ago.

Judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin today said he agreed with the prosecution that the trial could continue without the PM's presence.

He said this was based on a decision by the Appeals Court in January this year, to uphold a sentencing against a man charged with insulting the late Perak ruler Sultan Azlan Shah.

"The aggrieved person in the case was Sultan Azlan and the complainant was a different individual.

"The proceedings of the case took place without the attendance of the aggrieved person and sentencing was based solely on circumstantial evidence," he said.

Ikmal Hishan added that he was also the presiding judge in the Butterworth Sessions Court for the case he cited which took place in 2012.

He said he was positive that the High Court and Appeals Court judges did not overlook the details in their decision.

"If the aggrieved person's presence was compulsory in the trial, then the case would have been thrown out and the charged individual would not have been sentenced," he said.

The court later heard testimony from two witnesses, the then Simpang Pulai police station chief DSP Mohd Uzin Ismail and police photographer, Muhd Lok Abdullah.

Outside the court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim said there were a total 24 names in the witness line-up.

The continuation of the trial tomorrow will present the evidence of an hour-long video recording, which include Nizar's speech at Taman Desa Pakatan in Ipoh, where he allegedly made the remarks against Najib, between 9pm and midnight on April 23, 2012.

Nizar, who is also Changkat Jering assemblyman was charged in January this year and risked being disqualified from office, if fined more than RM2,000 or jailed more than a year and without receiving a free pardon.

Previously, the same court discharged him not amounting to acquittal on a similar charge, due to technical issues. – The Malaysian Insider

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