Selangor Journal
A Court’s gavel. — Picture via UNSPLASH

Appeals court clears engineer of corruption charges

PUTRAJAYA, March 15 — The Court of Appeal here today cleared an engineer of 16 corruption charges involving more than RM40,000.

This was after a three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Datuk See Mee Chun and Datuk Azman Abdullah dismissed the prosecution’s appeal to set aside a High Court’s decision which had acquitted and discharged Mohd Asrul Hisyam Setapa.

Justice Hanipah, who delivered the court’s decision, held that there was no merits in the prosecution’s appeal.

The prosecution had sought to restore the Sessions Court’s decision which had convicted and sentenced Mohd Arul to six years in jail and fined a total of RM236,000.

Hanipah said that there was doubt regarding the type of burden of proof that the Sessions Court judge applied to convict Mohd Asrul, 36, on the charges.

She said the Sessions Court judge also failed to state when the statutory presumption under Section 50 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act (MACC) 2009 was invoked against Mohd Asrul.

Section 50 states that for anyone who faces charges under the MACC Act, it is proved that any gratification that has been received or given by or to the accused, the gratification shall be presumed to have been corruptly received or given unless the contrary is proven.

Justice Hanipah said the Sessions Court’s decision to convict Mohd Asrul on the charges was bad in law.

On July 30, 2018, the Sessions Court sentenced Mohd Asrul to six years in jail and fined him a total of RM236,000 after finding him guilty of the charges.

On December 21, 2020, the High Court acquitted and discharged Mohd Asrul after allowing his appeal.

Mohd Asrul was charged with allegedly accepting bribes in the form of goods and cash, totalling RM40,248.03, at several locations in Kota Bahru, Kelantan between April 4, 2016, and August 22, 2016.

A team of lawyers led by Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik represented Mohd Asrul while deputy public prosecutor Nahra Dollah appeared for the prosecution.

— Bernama

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