KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam and three other party members were charged with intent to cause hurt at the sessions court here today.
Petaling Jaya Umno division chief Abdul Mutalif Abdul Rahim, Lembah Pantai Umno office clerk Salmon Arif Budiman Muchlis, 47, law firm runner Mohd Norzakifah Mohamed Nawi, 43, and an unnamed fourth accused who is still at large were charged alongside Lokman. The fourth accused was charged in absentia.
They were accused of voluntarily causing hurt to Wong Yan Ke, 23, under Section 323 of the Penal Code for by grabbing his jaw and pulling his neck from the back at a bus stop opposite a restaurant in Jalan Pantai Baharu at 3.30pm on March 22.
They were also slapped with another charge for allegedly pulling Wong’s hair from behind.
The charges were read together with Section 149 of the same law that makes all participants of an illegal assembly jointly liable for any offence committed.
Lokman was also charged separately under Section 426 of the Penal Code for causing mischief when he tore a placard of Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in clown make-up belonging to Wong.
The offence carries a maximum jail term of five years and fine upon conviction
Mutalif was also separately charged with two counts of deliberately causing injuries to a journalist, Siti Mariam Mohamad Nizar, 25.
He was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code for allegedly causing hurt to the victim during the fracas and also under Section 352 of the Penal Code for using criminal force to cause hurt to the victim's right thumb.
The charge Under Section 323, carries a maximum sentence of one-year imprisonment, a fine of RM2,000, or both upon conviction whereas, Section 352 carries a maximum of three months' jail, a fine of RM1,000, or both.
They claimed trial to the charges and bail was set at differing sums, with Lokman Adam's amounting to RM9,000.
The charge came after a scuffle on March 22, where a group of seven Universiti Malaya (UM) students staged a protest across the street from a restaurant where former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was giving a talk.
