Day in court: Chiew (in orange T-shirt), who is pregnant, together with the other accused, being brought to the Sessions Court in Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: A pregnant woman and three men have pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to charges of carrying out arson attacks against four borrowers of an unlicensed moneylender last month.
Veeno Chiew Meng Ying, 42, who is three months pregnant, Abdul Halim Md Nor, 32, Nurazman Hassan Ashari, 37, and Liew Choon Kian, 58, claimed trial before judge Datuk Che Wan Zaidi Che Wan Ibrahim here yesterday.
According to the charge sheet, both Chiew and Abdul Halim have five charges against them, Nurazman has four, and Liew has one.
They are accused of carrying out arson attacks with the intention of causing destruction to the vehicles and houses of four borrowers, aged between 27 and 58, here between March 10 and 27.
They are said to have committed an offence under Section 435 of the Penal Code and face up to seven years’ jail and a fine if found guilty.
They are also charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years or a fine upon conviction.
Che Wan Zaidi offered bail of RM70,000 each to Chiew and Abdul Halim, RM56,000 to Nurazman, and RM14,000 to Liew.
He also ordered all four accused to hand over their passports to the court, report to the nearest police station until their case is settled, and not to disturb the victims.
He set May 23 for the next mention of the case.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Syafiqah Sha’ari prosecuted while Chiew, Abdul Halim and Nurazman were represented by lawyer Nur Zafirah Norizan, and Liew by lawyer Adrian Lu.
