Tebrau MP, three others withdraw appeals against PAA conviction in Court of Appeal

PUTRAJAYA: Tebrau Member of Parliament Steven Chong Shiau Yoon and three others have withdrawn their appeals at the Court of Appeal yesterday in respect of their conviction under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 ( PAA).

This was after the prosecution withdrew its cross- appeal to enhance the RM1,500 fine imposed on Chong, social activist Thomas Fann Peng Fong, engineer Koh Jit Huat and PKR member Mohd Salleh Ahmad.

A three-man bench, comprising Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki, Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, subsequently struck out the appeals by the four men and the prosecution’s cross-appeal.

Deputy head of the Appellate and Trial division in the AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers (AGC) Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud informed the court that the AGC had accepted and agreed to a representation made by the four appellants.

He said the terms of the representation were that the prosecution is to withdraw its cross-appeal against the sentence and the appellants to withdraw their appeal on conviction.

Counsel Latheefa Koya representing the four men confirmed the matter.

Chong, 61, Fann, 57, Koh, 57 and Mohd Salleh, 62, were found guilty by the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru for participating in the ‘Free Adam Adli’ assembly near a petrol kiosk on Jalan Tun Razak in Johor Bahru on May 21, 2013.

The Sessions Court, in January 2015, fined each of them RM5,000 or in default three months’ jail.

On appeal, the High Court maintained the conviction but reduced the fine to RM1,500 in default a month’s jail. — Bernama