Anwar’s appeal over Bersih charges struck out
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday struck out Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal on the charges on his alleged involvement in Bersih 3.0 rally in April 2012 as the appeal is unsustainable.
A three-member bench, chaired by Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, said Anwar’s appeal could not be sustained, and rendered incompetent following the circumstances pertaining to his three charges under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA).
He was referring to the fact that the former Permatang Pauh member of parliament was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the sessions court on Jan 10 last year, on all three charges relating to the rally held in Kuala Lumpur on April 28, 2012.
Under the law, a person who is given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal is not completely freed as he could be re-charged.
Yesterday, counsel Ram Karpal Singh told the court the prosecution could not proceed with the charges against Anwar because a court order which formed the basis of the charges had been set aside.
A magistrate’s court had issued an order on April 26, 2012, barring the rally in Dataran Merdeka. However, this decision was overturned by the Appeal Court on Jan 6 last year, which ruled that the court order was invalid.
Anwar, 68, was appealing against a High Court dismissal of his reference bid on the validity of Section 4(1) (c) and Section (2) (c) of the PAA which prohibited street protests, in an attempt to get his charges under that Act thrown out.
On May 22, 2012, Anwar was charged with Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali and PKR former Rembau division chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin with participating in a street protest on April 28, 2012.
They also faced a second charge of allegedly abetting with Rasah PKR deputy head Tangam Raju, lawyer Rajesh Kumar Gejinder and van driver Farhan Ibrahim by inciting them to remove iron barricades in Jalan Raja in Kuala Lumpur on the same day.
On July 2, 2012, the trio were slapped with a third charge of conspiring with Tangam, Rajesh, Farhan and five other supporters of the “Coalition for Free and Fair Elections” (Bersih 3.0) to defy a magistrate’s court order dated April 26, 2012 not to hold a rally at Dataran Merdeka between April 28 and May 1, 2012. – Bernama