Assault on Rela personnel: Lawyer applies for joint charge

KUALA LUMPUR: The lawyer representing Datuk Seri Liow Soon Hee, who is charged with assaulting three members of the People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) last year, is going to apply for all the charges against his client to be combined and heard as a joint charge.
Lawyer Datuk Rajpal Singh, who just took over Liow's case, told the court that he would be applying to the Attorney-General's Chambers for a joint charge so that it can all be heard in the same court.
"We just took over the case two days ago and were told by the deputy public prosecutor there are more charges. As all the charges are based on the same incident, I will make a representation to the AGC to be heard in the same court. This will save the court's time," Rajpal told the magistrate's court in Ampang Jaya today morning.
Magistrate Mohamad Firdaus Sadina Ali then set April 6 for the next mention.
Deputy public prosecutor Alia Sumayah Amran said she will check if all the charges can be consolidated for a joint charge.
Liow, 29, had pleaded not guilty on Nov 3 last year to four charges of assaulting the three Rela members who were carrying out their duties at a temple in Kampung Baru Ampang.
On the first charge, he is accused of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Lee Weng Poh, 27, at 6.30am on Oct 27, 2017, in the compound of the temple.
The charge, under Section 325 of the Penal Code, provides for an imprisonment of up to seven years, and is liable to a fine, if found guilty.
For the second charge, under Section 353, he is alleged to have intentionally assaulted a public servant, Melvin Cheong Mun Khai, 21, who was discharging his duties as a Rela member at the same place, date and time.
The charge provides for an imprisonment of up to two years, or fine, or both if found guilty.
For the third and fourth charge, Liow is alleged to have voluntarily caused hurt to Leong Jun Jie, 21, and Cheong at the same place, time and date.
If convicted, he faces a prison term of up to a year, or a fine of up to RM2,000, or both if found guilty of the offence.