Ruling in blogger case put off till December 5

KOTA KINABALU: The Magistrate’s Court here yesterday put off to December 5 this year to deliver its ruling in a case of a Malaccan blogger, who was charged with posting a statement and image online on the blog site Milo Suam with intent to cause public fear.

According to counsel Goldam Hamid, who represented the blogger, Yusuf Al Siddique Suratman, 29, the court had informed him that the ruling was postponed on the grounds that the notes of proceedings were not complete.

The trial was heard before deputy registrar of the High Court, Ryan Sangirann Rayner Jr, presiding as magistrate, with the prosecution calling 17 witnesses to testify against the accused.

The accused was charged under Section 505 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail sentence of two years and a fine, if found guilty.

In an unrelated case, a woman was fined RM1,000, in default, two months’ imprisonment for indulging in illegal gambling.

Magistrate Mohd Faiz Omar fined Floren William, 49, after she pleaded guilty to the charge framed under Section 9 (1) of the Common Gaming House Act 1953, which is punishable with a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both, upon conviction.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Syahrin Ali told the court that the unrepresented accused was caught with a hand phone with four-digit (4D) numbers recorded in it at a shop at Jalan Kionsom in Inanam on November 12. Police also seized RM407 in cash from her person.