Court postpones case against Chegubard and two others to Wednesday

The Sessions Court today postponed the case against three Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) activists under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 for their involvement at the Turun Rally on New Year’s Eve last year.

Before the charges against Badrul Hisham Shahrin or Chegubard, Edy Nor Reduan and Mohamed Bukhairy Mohamed Sofian were read out counsel Gobind Singh Deo objected to the charge under the PAA 2012.

He said the court has no jurisdiction over the matter and as such a plea cannot be taken.

The Turun case- @GobindSinghDeo is objecting to charge under PAA2012 because the court has no jurisdiction and a plea cannot be taken
— Lawyers For Liberty (@lawyers4liberty) May 9, 2014

Judge Ahmad Bache postponed the case to May 14 to decide whether the court had the jurisdiction to hear a plea over the matter.

The case will resume on 14 may 2014 for the judge to decide on the matter #PAA2012 #turun
— Lawyers For Liberty (@lawyers4liberty) May 9, 2014

The three had received a warrant on Wednesday to attend court to be recharged under Section 9(1) and punishable under Section 9(5) of the PAA 2012, which had been declared unconstitutional.

Just last week the three had been granted a discharged by the Sessions Court following the outcome of Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad’s case on April 25, 2014.

In that case, the Court of Appeal had ruled that the punishment under Section 9(5) for not giving a 10-day notice to authorities prior to a peaceful assembly as unconstitutional and the 10-day period as unreasonable.

On May 6, Nik Nazmi was recharged at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court but Judge Yasmin Abdul Razak granted him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, adding she was bound by the decision made by the higher courts.