PUTRAJAYA: A suspended administrative assistant at the Ministry of Defence’s Air Logistics Headquarters burst into tears after the Court of Appeal here upheld her acquittal on seven charges of allegedly submitting false claims for medication totalling nearly RM11,000 in 2013.
Justice Datuk Kamardin Hashim who chaired a three-member bench said the prosecution’s appeal against wheelchair-bound Siti Nor Hakiki Abdullah’s acquittal without her defence being called at the end of the prosecution’s case, did not have merits.
He dismissed the prosecution’s appeal for Siti Nor Hakiki to be ordered to enter her defence.
On Jan 5, last year, the sessions court discharged and acquitted Siti Nor Hakiki on the charges without ordering her to make her defence. The High Court, on Aug 16, the same year, dismissed the prosecution’s appeal and upheld the sessions court’s decision.
The other two judges presiding on the bench were Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah.
After the court pronounced the decision, Siti Nor Hakiki cried and embraced her husband who was sitting on the bench behind her.
Earlier, Justice Kamardin allowed Siti Nor Hakiki, 40, who is suffering from a slipped disc, to lie down on the bench at the public gallery as she could not sit for long due to her condition, while the appeal proceeded. A court interpreter sat next to her.
According to the charges, she was alleged to have knowingly submitted the false claims to the administrative officer of the department, Siti Kartika Sari Mohamad Salleh for medication such as Pregabalin 150mg and Oxynorm 5mg, Celecoxib 500mg and Lyrica 150mg purportedly bought from a pharmacy in Bangsar.
She was accused of submitting receipts containing false information when in fact the medicines were never bought.
Siti Nor Hakiki was alleged to have committed the offences at the department from August till December 2013.
She was represented by lawyer Ahmad Ishrakh Saad while deputy public prosecutor Nahra Dollah appeared for the prosecution.
Ahmad Ishrakh said Siti Nor Hakiki was suspended from her job when she was charged in 2017 but she would be reinstated to her post following the court’s decision. — Bernama
