KUALA LUMPUR, 20 Mar: The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set 19 April 2013 as the date to hear the decision on the appeal to cancel charges against PKR Deputy President, Azmin Ali and Youth Solidarity Malaysia (SAMM) Chairman, Badrul Hisham Shaharim (CheguBard) in the Bersih 3.0 Assembly case.
This date was decided by the High Court Judge Kamardin Hashim after hearing the submission from the council and the prosecuting attorney.
Lawyers, Datuk Yusuf Zainal Abidin and S Sankar Nair represented Badrul Hisham while Praba Karan represented Azmin.
Sankar Nair who was met after the proceeding said that the appeal to prevent the Bersih 3.0 Assembly is not in accordance with the law.
“In our argument, we mentioned that police officers form the Dang Wangi Police Station appeal to the Magistrate to prevent the Bersih 3.0 Assembly which was held at Dataran Merdeka , was not done correctly in accordance with the law.
Meanwhile, Azmin who also attended today’s proceedings characterised the charge against him as being malicious and done inaccurately.
“The lawyers have argued if there is an element of mala fide (malicious) in the appeal and asked the High Court to examine whether the restraining order issued by the Magistrate is invalid.
“If it is invalid, then the charge is not valid,” said Azmin who is also the Gombak Member of Parliament.
Earlier, on may last year, both of the accused together with PKR De Facto Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, were charged under Section 4(2) (c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act for allegedly taking part in the Bersih 3.0 assembly and violated the court order that prevented the rally.
In addition, they also face charges with five others who are still free, of abetting with Tangam a/l Raju, Rajesh Kumar a/l Gejinder and Farhan bin Ibrahim @ Alias, and had reneged on an order issued by Magistrate Zaki Asyraf Zubir on 26 April 2012.
Azmin was accused of conspiring and inciting Tangam, Rajesh and Farhan to open the iron blockade at Dataran Merdeka which may have caused a riot or tumult in the area.