KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — The Magistrate's Court discharged today polls reform group Bersih 2.0 chief Maria Chin Abdullah and two others from an 2015 criminal case over a #KitaLawan rally, but issued an arrest warrant for the fourth person charged.
Lawyer Vince Tan, who represented Bersih 2.0 secretariat manager Mandeep Singh — one of the three people freed — said today was initially set for trial for the two-year-old case.
Tan said the defence team for the accused were ready for the trial, but the original deputy public prosecutor's absence led to the discharge of three of the four accused present in court — Maria, Mandeep and PKR's Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin.
Another deputy public prosecutor had attended court proceedings today for a mention of the case on behalf of the initial deputy public prosecutor, he said.
"The court gave discharge not amounting to acquittal to all accused because the prosecution was not there. So the magistrate decided the matter, three of the accused given discharge not amounting to acquittal," he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
However the fourth person charged — activist Mohd Fariz Abd Talib Musa — was not present in court and his medical certificate was not accepted by the court, Tan said.
Tan, who also represented Mohd Fariz, said the court today issued an arrest warrant for his client and fixed mention for his case on September 26.
The four were charged on September 8, 2015 under Section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act for the offence of alleged organisation and participation in a street protest, which is punishable with a maximum RM10,000 fine.
The four were accused of being part of a street demonstration from Jalan Tun Perak until the Sogo Complex from 3.15pm to 6pm on March 28, 2015.
