PUTRAJAYA: A lawyer walked out a free man after the Court of Appeal here today set aside his conviction, nine-month jail sentence and RM10,000 fine for criminal intimidation.
A three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, in an unanimous decision, ruled that there were merits in A. Suayri’s appeal.
He said Suayri’s conviction for the offence was unsafe, hence his conviction was set aside.
The other two judges were Court of Appeal judge P. Ravinthran and High Court judge Datuk Wira Ahmad Nasfy Yasin.
Suayri, 59, was appealing against the decision of the Magistrate’s Court in 2017 which found him guilty for criminal intimidation against another lawyer Datuk Suraj Singh, by threatening to cause grievous hurt or death against the latter.
The High Court, on Aug 3, 2018, upheld the Magistrate’s Court’s decision.
According to the charge sheet, Suayri was accused of committing the offence at the Lake View Club in Subang Jaya, Selangor at 11.25pm on May 24, 2014.
Based on the facts of the case, both Suayri and Suraj were at a dinner organised by the Selangor Bar when Suayri was alleged to have threatened to cause grievous hurt to Suraj.
In today’s appeal proceedings, Suayri’s counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik argued that his client’s conviction cannot be sustained because the magistrate did not consider the defence evidence.
He said this was in breach of the legal statutory requirement under section 173 (m) (i) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Hisyam also submitted that the failure of the prosecution to call or offer two female employees at the bar counter to the defence or at the very least furnish statements recorded from them to the defence had prejudiced Suayri.
Deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi countered by saying that the statements were not taken from the two female employees as they did not know what happened on that day.
She also said magistrate Mohd Azali Ibrahim had clearly stated that he had heard the entire testimonies of the defence witnesses. — Bernama
