Fined over suicide bomber costume
PETALING JAYA: A Yemeni man, who dressed up as a suicide bomber for a Halloween celebration, was fined RM400 in default four days imprisonment by the magistrate’s court here for causing public nuisance.
Magistrate Nurul Huda Zakariya meted out the maximum sentence to Amjad Jalal Ahmed Al Dahan after he pleaded guilty to the offence yesterday.
Amjad, who worked as an IT consultant, was calm and nodded when the charge was read to him by the court translator.
The 34-year-old man was charged with (causing) public nuisance by donning a suicide bomber outfit in public at Armanee Terrace Condominium, at 7.40pm on Oct 28.
The offence falls under Section 268 of the Penal Code and is punishable under Section 290 of the same code, which carries a maximum RM400 fine.
Counsel Puan Sri N.Saraswathy Devi, who represented the accused, pleaded for leniency, stating that her client was remorseful.
“My client has been remanded for a week and he wants to apologise for his action,” she said.
However, deputy public prosecutor Norazalina Razali pressed for a deterrent sentence, saying this should serve as a lesson to the accused and the public.
“This is a very serious crime as it can cause confusion among the public in differentiating between the real suicide bomber and the fake.
“The accused also should respect the laws of this country,” she said.
An image of the accused wearing a robe and chequered headscarf with “explosives” made out of cardboards and empty mineral water bottles wrapped around his waist for a Halloween party went viral recently.
This led police to start a manhunt for the accused, prompting him to turn himself in last week.