KUALA KUBU BAHARU: A senior citizen who was jailed one month and fined RM3,000 for misusing a picture of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia during the by-election here will be charged again at the magistrate's court on May 30.
Sessions Court judge Siti Fatimah Talib, who presided as magistrate, set the date after the prosecution said the accused, P. Ramasamy, 66, was not produced in court to face the charge.
"The court takes note that the accused's judicial review application at the High Court (Shah Alam) dated May 23 was allowed, therefore, the conviction and sentence was set aside.
"For this case (the re-charge), the court fixes May 30 for mention of the presence of the accused," she ruled.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Asmah Che Wan applied for a new mention date for the charge to be re-read to Ramasamy as he was not produced in court.
Ramasamy's defence counsel, Pavitra Loganathan, confirmed that her client was jailed at the Kajang Prison, but she could not ascertain his whereabouts today.
Yesterday, Judicial Commissioner Dr Wendy Ooi Su Ghee released Ramasamy after allowing his judicial review to challenge the sentence meted out against him by the Kuala Kubu Baharu magistrate's court earlier this month.
Ooi ordered the case to be sent back to the lower court for re-trial.
The court, in its ruling, said the accused had entered a conditional guilty plea before a magistrate as he lacked full comprehension of the charges, implications and consequences involved.
She said it was evident from Ramasamy's explanation during the proceedings that he lacked awareness that using the king's image was an offence.
On May 6, Ramasamy pleaded guilty to the offence under Section 4A(1) of the Elections Offences Act 1954 for malicious intent.
Ramasamy, from Tanjung Rambutan, Perak, was found to have driven a Mazda 4WD vehicle with the registration number AFA 6108 in Taman Bukit Bunga, Kuala Kubu Baharu.
He was found to have in his possession Pakatan Harapan flags bearing the image of the king that were attached to the vehicle's sides and back, as well as a banner depicting the king attached to the rear.
The vehicle, which was also adorned with the Jalur Gemilang, Johor and PH flags, was stopped in front of the Ulu Yam Lama basketball court.