The Court of Appeal on March 1 acquitted and discharged a 25-year-old on a charge of stealing a mobile phone in Low Yat Plaza in 2015.
A three-man panel comprising Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki, Datuk Yaacob Md Sam and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil allowed Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz’s appeal to set aside his conviction, four months imprisonment and RM1,000 fine imposed on him by the Magistrate’s Court.
Justice Mohtarudin chairing the panel said it was the court’s view that Shahrul Anuar’s appeal had merits as the court (Court of Appeal) found that the magistrate had committed serious misdirection of law that tantamount to a miscarriage of justice.
The judge, however, advised the accused to repent if he had indeed stolen the phone and to take the whole episode as a test from Allah if he was innocent.
“However, I have reason to believe that you committed the offence,” he said.
Earlier, during the proceedings, Mohtarudin also remarked that the court had the power to order a retrial.
Mohtarudin said the prosecution’s cross-appeal against the inadequacy of jail sentence was also nullified since Shahrul Anuar’s appeal had been allowed.
On May 24, 2016, Shahrul Anuar was found guilty by the magistrate’s court and was sentenced to four months jail and fined RM1,000 for stealing the phone which was under the care of shopkeeper See Ming Ho at Techasia Boutique, Low Yat Plaza in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
His alleged action had resulted in a much-publicised racial riot outside the mall, with Malay NGOs claiming discrimination and cheating by traders.
His appeal against conviction and sentence was dismissed by the High Court on April 5, last year.
Shahrul Anuar’s lawyer Datuk Shaharudin Ali told the court that his client had nothing to do with the purported racial riot incident at Low Yat Plaza, adding that the incident was created by a different person and his client was caught in between.
He argued that the magistrate was wrong on her grounds of judgment in finding Shahrul Anuar had committed the offence as stated in the charge and ordered him to enter his defence.
He said this was because the magistrate had made a conclusion that Shahrul Anuar was guilty of the offence even before he had given his defence.
Deputy public prosecutor Tengku Intan Suraya Tengku Ismail submitted that there was overwhelming evidence to secure Shahrul Anuar’s conviction adding that there was no miscarriage of justice against him.