Anwar's appeal on Bersih 3.0 charges unsustainable

A three-member bench chaired by Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said Anwar's appeal could not be sustained and rendered incompetent following the circumstances pertaining to his three charges under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA).

He was referring to the fact that the former Permatang Pauh MP was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by a Sessions Court on Jan 10, last year on all three charges relating to the rally held in Kuala Lumpur on April 28, 2012.

Under the law, a person who is given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal is not completely freed as he could be re-charged.

In the proceedings today, counsel Ram Karpal Singh told the court that the prosecution could not proceed the charges against his client (Anwar) because a court order which formed the basis of the charges had been set aside.

A magistrate's court had issued an order on April 26, 2012, barring the rally in Dataran Merdeka. However, this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal on Jan 6, last year which ruled that the court order was invalid.

Anwar, 68, was appealing against a High Court dismissal of his reference bid on the validity of section 4(1) (c) and section (2) (c) of the PAA which prohibited street protests, in an attempt to get his charges under that Act thrown out.

On May 22, 2012, Anwar was charged with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali and PKR former Rembau division chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin with participating in a street protest on April 28, 2012.

They also faced a second charge of allegedly abetting with Rasah PKR deputy head Tangam Raju, lawyer Rajesh Kumar Gejinder and van driver Farhan Ibrahim by inciting them to remove iron barricades at Jalan Raja in Kuala Lumpur on the same day.

On July 2, 2012, the trio were slapped with a third charge of conspiring with Tangam, Rajesh, Farhan and five other supporters of the 'Coalition for Free and Fair Elections' (Bersih 3.0) to defy a Magistrate's Court Order dated April 26, 2012 not to hold a rally at Dataran Merdeka between April 28 and May 1, 2012.

On Jan 10, last year, the Sessions Court granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal to Anwar, Mohamed Azmin, Badrul Hisham, Tangam, Rajesh and Farhan after ruling that their charges were groundless and defective following the Court of Appeal's ruling that the Magistrate's Court order barring the rally was invalid.

Anwar is currently serving a five years' jail sentence after he lost his final appeal on Feb 10, this year to set aside his conviction for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Earlier, Ram Karpal sought the court for the next course of action as he said the matter had come to an end because Anwar was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the Sessions Court.

"As there is no charge ‎before the court and the magistrate's order has become invalid, there is nothing left for us to argue," he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohamed Hanafiah Zakaria said the matter has become academic and Anwar's appeal ought to be struck out.