Selangor state assembly deputy speaker Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was today freed by a Sessions Court after being charged with the same offence that he was acquitted for last month under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA).
Judge Yasmin Abdul Razak allowed Nik Nazmi an order of “discharge not amounting to acquittal”, saying that she was bound by the decision made by the higher courts.
“It is the same provisions, the same facts, the same dates. Now the accused finds himself in my court… for me, the proper recourse that should have been applied is to appeal, not to refile,” said Yasmin while delivering her decision this afternoon.
“This is not a second bite at a cherry, this is a third bite at a cherry,” she commented, saying that the new charge being brought about was “premature”.
Earlier, the 32-year-old Seri Setia state assemblyman did not record a plea when the court read out the charge to him at the Petaling Jaya sessions court, here.
Instead, Nik Nazmi’s lead defence lawyer, N Surendran, raised a plea to bar to trial, saying that the trial cannot go on.
“In essence, your honour, we are submitting that this accused person has already been acquitted of the same charges which are being brought before your honour this afternoon,” Surendran told Yasmin.
Surendran said that if the court continues hearing the case, it would be in breach of Article 7(2) of the Federal Constitution as well as 303 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Article 7 states that a person who is convicted or acquitted of an offence cannot be tried again for the same offence unless a retrial is ordered by a court.
Surendran also said that the court should not proceed with the trial as it would be in contempt of court, in respect to the April 25 acquittal by the Court of Appeal.
“There is no such thing as a Section 9(5) when the Court of Appeal struck it down.”
The new charge, under Section 9(1) of the PAA, was for the offence for failing to provide a 10-day notice to Petaling Jaya police chief prior to the Blackout 505 rally at the Kelana Jaya stadium on May 8, 2013.
This, said Nik Nazmi’s lawyers, was the same “exact same charge” to the one he was acquitted of.
On April 25, a three-member bench had unanimously ruled that Section 9(5), which criminalises failure to give the 10 day notice before a gathering, was “unconstitutional”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Sharuddin Wan Ladin had earlier argued that the Court of Appeal had freed Nik Nazmi but did not hear the evidence of the case.
"Although he has been acquitted, but because there was no trial, he can be recharged," said Wan Sharudin.
Meanwhile, following the decision, Nik Nazmi said outside court that it was a “victory” for him.
“Even the judge was shocked. To me, it is another victory. This shows how desperate that the AG and government is.
"Perhaps it is after May 1 that they saw that the rakyat are brave enough and that’s why they are finding ways to stop us… no matter what they do, we will still fight.”
Teoh El Sen
Tue May 06 2014
Court orders Nik Nazmi to be freed.
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