Defamation case against PM ordered to proceed
IPOH: The Sessions Court here yesterday dismissed a preliminary objection by former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who is charged with defaming Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak three years ago.
Judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin made the decision after hearing submission by the prosecution, conducted by deputy public prosecutors Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim and Fadhli Ab Wahab.
In his judgment, Ikmal said in a defamation case, there was no need to call the aggrieved person to testify and cited a decision made by the Court of Appeal in January this year on a case of a man charged with insulting the late Sultan Azlan Shah.
He said Sultan Azlan was not called in the case, but the court upheld the conviction against the offender.
Following which, Ikmal ordered the hearing of the case to proceed, during which two witnesses were called. They were ASP Mohd Uzir Ismail, who is now with the Case Study Unit at the Bukit Aman Department of Integrity and Standard Compliance, and Sergeant Muhamad Lok Abdullah, who is with the photo division of the Ipoh district police.
Earlier, lawyer Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin, representing Mohammad Nizar, submitted the preliminary objection and asked for his client to be discharged without amounting to an acquittal on grounds that the prime minister did not show interest in the case as he (Najib) was not present in court for the proceeding.
Fadhli objected to it on grounds, among others, that it was the prerogative of the prosecution to choose the witnesses to be called to prove the charge.
“In this situation, whether or not the prosecution call Datuk Seri Najib is up to us,” he added.
He also said it was not the jurisdiction of the court to grant the accused a discharge not amounting to an acquittal without first hearing testimony from the witness.
“The power to discharge without acquitting an accused is only when the court find the charge is baseless,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir, who was previously the officer-in-charge of the Simpang Pulai police station, said he received information of a ceramah (political talk) at a field in Taman Desa Pakatan, Simpang Pulai.
“I and a team from the Simpang Pulai police station were already in the area. The political ceramah was attended by National Laureate A. Samad Said, Sungai Rapat Assemblyman Radzi Zainon and Datuk Seri Nizar,” he added.
Muhamamd Lok, who has been with the police force for 25 years, said he took 45 photographs, using a Canon EOS 30D camera, of the speakers, the crowd and situation at the event.
Mohammad Nizar, 59, of Sungai Rokam, was charged with defaming Najib in a speech delivered in Taman Desa Pakatan here between 9 pm and midnight on April 23, 2012.
The former Perak PAS deputy commissioner is said to have known that the allegation contained in the transcript of his speech, attached as Appendix A to the charge sheet, would damage the good name of Najib.
Mohammad Nizar was charged under Section 500 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of two years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Last Jan 13, the Sessions Court granted Mohammad Nizar a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on a charge of defaming Najib after allowing a preliminary objection by the defence led by Mohd Yusof over the complainant in the case.
Judge Rihaida Rafie ruled that the complaint was defective and unacceptable because of the confusion over who actually made the complaint.
However, Mohammad Nizar, who is Changkat Jering Assemblyman was charged with the same offence again last Jan 30.
The hearing continues today. Bernama