Arrest warrant issued for T’ganu exco man

PETALING JAYA: A Terengganu exco member, who was issued with an arrest warrant for failing to appear at an election petition hearing, says his absence from the Election Court was due to his pre-scheduled events.

State human development, dakwah and information committee chairman Mohd Nor Hamzah listed out on Facebook all the people-oriented activities that he attended yesterday to explain why he did not testify at the Terengganu Election Court.

According to him, his schedule began at 9am yesterday with a haircut programme at his constituency, followed by another event with Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar and some other closing ceremonies.

He also posted pictures from the programme of him with Ahmad Samsuri.

“RAKYAT MESTI DIUTAMAKAN!” he wrote in uppercase about his priority to the people.

His Facebook post came after news reports emerged that High Court judge Datuk Hassan Abdul Ghani, who was sitting as an election judge, had issued the arrest warrant for the PAS man for not turning up to continue his testimony as a witness in the case yesterday.

This is in connection to an election petition filed by Terengganu Umno to annul the results of the Marang parliamentary seat, which was won by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.

During the proceedings on Tuesday, Hassan had told Mohd Nor to appear again in court yesterday to resume his testimony.

When news emerged about the arrest warrant, Mohd Nor responded on Facebook, saying: “Many people have asked me about this sensational news. I only want to relay that I have given my earnest cooperation with the legal firm representing the GE15 Marang Barisan candidate.”

During his court attendance on Tuesday, he said he was asked to appear again on Wednesday “but I told them that I had to attend the state assembly”.

“On Wednesday evening, my personal assistant informed me that the Barisan lawyer had suggested Thursday (yesterday) morning.

“I said that evening time would be more suitable because I have many programmes to attend (in the morning),” he said.