Court grants 'KitaLawan' trio stay of trial

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court allowed a stay of the trial of Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang, Semambu assemblyman Lee Chean Chung and Rozan Azeman Mat Rasip, who is a special officer to Batu MP Tian Chua for participating in the "KitaLawan" rally two years ago.
High Court judge Datuk Paduka Azman Abdullah granted a stay of the trial at the magistrate's court, in which the three were called to enter their defence on a joint charge of participating in the rally.
They are alleged to have committed the offence in front of the Sogo shopping complex and the junction of Jalan Tun Perak, between 4.30pm and 5.05pm on March 21, 2015.
The charge under Section 4 (2) (c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act is punishable under Section 4 (3) of the same act with a fine of up to RM10,000, upon conviction.
On Aug 9, 2017, the magistrate found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case, and ordered the accused to enter their defence.
The three had filed an application at the High Court, seeking to refer a constitutional question to the Federal Court.
The judge had also ordered the stay, pending the hearing of an appeal in another case involving activist Adam Adli, who was recently acquitted from a charge of participating in the "Kita Lawan" rally, in 2015, as both cases involve similar constitutional issues.
Lawyer Eric Paulsen said the judge allowed the stay application pending the resolution of Adam's case.
The case is fixed for case management on March 13, 2018, before the magistrate's court.