Police sergeant pleads not guilty to bribery

ALOR STAR: A police sergeant pleaded not guilty at the sessions court here today to two counts of bribery, allegedly committed in 2015.
On the first count, Afifah Zainal Abidin, 28, made the appeal after the charge was read out in the presence of Judge Amernudin Ahmad.
On the first charge, Afifah, who was then the Assistant Investigation Officer at the Narcotics Department at the Kota Star District Police Headquarters, was alleged to have solicited RM2,000 from one Ahmad Termizi Mohd Izham, who was then at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building in Alor Star, during a telephone conversation at 11.40am on Dec 13, 2015.
It was as an inducement for her to delay the process of prosecuting Ahmad Termizi for an offence under Section 30(3) of the Poisons Act 1952.
She was also charged with accepting RM2,000 from Ahmad Termizi for the same purpose at a restaurant in Jalan Pegawai here at 12.10pm on Dec 15, 2015.
Both the charges were made under Section 21(b) of the MACC Act 2009 (Act 694), which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and fined up to five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
Judge Amernudin Ahmad allowed Afifah bail of RM7,000 with one surety and set Nov 13 for mention.
The prosecution was conducted by MACC deputy public prosecutor A.Hafiizh Abu Bakar, while Afifah was represented by counsel Ruzanna Abdul Rahim. — Bernama