Discharged not amounting to acquittal for PKR deputy sec-gen over illegal assembly

The Johor Bahru Sessions court on Tuesday decided that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Deputy Secretary General, Steven Chong and three other individuals will be discharged not amounting to an acquittal over the charge of an illegal gathering in a protected place and failure to inform the police before it was held last year.

The decision was made by Judge Muhammad Jamil Hassan after finding that the charge was unfounded as it was not brought to the court in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

“There were no application for summons or arrest issued by the prosecution against the four accused and I found two charges were flawed and baseless,” he said.

Steve Chong, engineer Koh Jit Huat Electronic Trade Union executive secretary Mohd Salleh Ahmad and an non-governmental organisation leader, Thomas Fann were accused of joining a protest in support of Adam Adli on May 25 last year at an petrol station near Jalan Tun Razak at 9pm.

They were charged under two counts of Section 4 (2) (B) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and Section 9 (1) of the Act which provides for a maximum fine of RM10, 000 each if convicted.

Muhammad Jamil said the prosecutor can review its decision to the High Court if its not satisfied with the decision.

The accused were represented by their own lawyers- Hassan Karim, Jimmy Puah, John Fernandez and Loh Wei Cher- and the prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Afif Ali.