Accountant jailed for contempt of court

PETALING JAYA: For raising her voice at a magistrate who told her to keep quiet during a proceeding, accountant Liew Yoke Peng will be spending two weeks in jail.

The 43-year-old appeared unhappy as she was charged with obstructing a public servant from discharging his duties over parking and started talking back to the magistrate.

When a policewoman tried to calm her down, she bit the officer’s arm, causing a button to fall off from the uniform sleeve.

Her behaviour caused magistrate Nurulhuda Zakariya to hold her in contempt of court and sentenced her to jail, starting yesterday.

Liew was sent to the Kajang Women’s Prison.

She was charged with contempt of court for shouting and disobeying the magistrate during a court proceeding. The offence was committed at about 11.35am yesterday.

The charge, under Item 26, Third Schedule (Section 99A) of The Subordinate Courts Act 1947, carries a maximum fine of RM150 or up to three weeks’ imprisonment.

Before passing the sentence, Nurulhuda advised the accused to respect the rules in a court room.

Liew was in court since morning, but the proceeding had to be postponed in the afternoon as she had become uncontrollable.

Prior to the contempt proceeding, Liew was accused of obstructing a Subang Jaya Municipal Council enforcement officer from discharging his duties at a parking area in Bandar Puteri Puchong at 1pm on Sept 6.

That charge, under Section 186 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to RM10,000, or both, if convicted.

The accused, who was unrepresented, pleaded not guilty.

The charge came about following a viral video of a woman scolding an enforcement officer while holding a steering lock.

The woman was screaming at the officer, saying she had to park illegally at the spot as she had to buy food for her disabled husband.