GEORGE TOWN: Three assistant marketing executives were charged at the magistrate's court here today with causing injury to a lawyer in broad daylight in October.
Koay Beng Ghee, 36, Teh Eng Tat, 36, and Ng Weng Kooi, 41, claimed trial to the charge before magistrate Nadratun Naim Mohd Saidi.
Each answered "tak salah" (not guilty) when asked to state their plea.
The trio, with another still at large, is alleged to have jointly caused injury to Beh Hong Shien, 37, using a metal rod at the side of the Persiaran Karpal Singh road at 9.50am on Oct 22.
The charge was framed under Section 324 of the Penal Code read together with Section 109 of the same code.
The offence carries 10 years' jail or a fine or whipping, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor M. Darrshini prosecuted.
The trio is represented by counsel Md Yusuf Md Idris.
RSN Rayer held a watching brief for the victim.
Darrshini asked the court to set bail at RM9,000 for each accused.
"We request the court to set an additional condition, that the accused do not approach the victim of any of the prosecution witnesses," she said.
Md Yusuf told the court that his clients earned only RM2,000 a month and were the sole breadwinners of their respective families.
"Irrespective of the status of the accused, the principle is that they are deemed innocent until otherwise proven in court.
"The purpose of the bail is not to punish but to secure attendance in court.
"Taking into account their social and economic standing, the RM9,000 bail proposed by the prosecution is too high and they may not afford it. As such, we urged the court to set bail at RM3,000," he said.
Rayer, meanwhile, told the court that the case was serious as it involved an attack on a lawyer in broad daylight.
He said that as an elected representative, he had raised this matter in Dewan Rakyat before.
"There have been at least five to six murder cases involving lawyers in Penang that had gone unsolved," he added.
Md Yusuf, in response, said Article 8 of the Constitution stated the equality of everyone in the eyes of the law.
As such, he urged the court not to take into consideration the fact that the victim was a lawyer.
"My clients will prove their innocence in court. They will prove that they were not at the scene during the incident," he said.
Nadratun set bail at RM7,000 with one surety and fixed Jan 13 for mention pending submission of documents.
She said all the accused were not allowed to approach the victim and the prosecution witnesses.
On Oct 26, it was reported that police had initiated a probe into a violent attack on a 37-year-old lawyer, which occurred on Oct 22.
The incident happened in front of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlet at Persiaran Karpal Singh 2 here at 9.50am.