Assault of bodyguards for fasting: Businessman faces more charges, pleads not guilty

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): A businessman charged with assaulting and threatening his two bodyguards with a pistol was again produced in a Magistrate's Court here on Friday (April 23) to face four counts of beating up the same victims.

Chung Chee Yang, 44, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him by an interpreter before Magistrate Mohamad Fared Abdul Latif.

Chung was charged with four counts of voluntarily causing hurt to Mohd Azminizam Zulkepli, 44, and Ahmad Shamsuri Zailani, 27, at the lobby area and lift of a condominium here between 8.40pm and 8.43pm on April 13.

The charges, framed under Section 323 of the Penal Code, provide for a maximum jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to RM2,000 or both.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Nur Ashikin Mokhtar urged the court to set bail at RM20,000 for each charge with one surety, on the grounds that the offence was serious as it touched on sensitive aspects of others' religious beliefs.

"As his employees, they should be protected and humanely treated and both victims have served the accused between three and seven years, ” she added.

Counsel Abdul Hakim Aiman, representing Chung, appealed for lower bail to take his client's health into consideration as well as the need to support his dependents.

"My client has his parents, wife and four children to support and he is suffering from cancer and insomnia. He has also contributed a lot to the community in Klang, ” he said.

The court then set bail at RM10,000 for all the charges with one surety, and fixed June 2 for mention.

On Thursday (April 22), the accused and his personal assistant Choo Hin Voon, 43, claimed trial to seven charges, including assaulting and threatening the two bodyguards with a pistol for fasting. – Bernama