PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has dismissed a final appeal by Global Human Rights Federation (GHRF) president S. Shashi Kumar to initiate private prosecution against preachers Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu and Firdaus Wong Wan Hung for allegedly insulting the beliefs and religious practices of non-Muslims.
In a unanimous decision on Tuesday (Dec 17), Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, leading a three-member panel, said Shashi failed to convince the panel that an error had been committed by Shah Alam High Court Judicial Commissioner Dr Wendy Ooi Su Ghee and Magistrate Mohamad Redza Azhar Rezali in the case.
"The Magistrate's decision to dismiss the appellant's application and not continue the appellant's examination in this case is correct and not a mistake.
"This court finds that both appeals are without merit, so the appellant's appeal is dismissed and the decision of the Magistrate's Court, confirmed by the High Court, is upheld," said Justice Ahmad Zaidi.
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The other two judges on the panel were Justices Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.
In 2020, the police investigated the two preachers under Section 298A of the Penal Code for allegedly inciting enmity between different groups on religious or racial grounds.
On Jan 8, 2021 Shashi applied to conduct private prosecution at the Shah Alam Magistrate's Court.
On Sept 3 that year, Magistrate Mohamad Redza dismissed the application on the grounds that the police investigation against Zamri was classified "no further action" (NFA), while the investigation against Firdaus was in progress at that time.
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Following the decision, Shashi filed an appeal at the Shah Alam High Court, which upheld the Magistrate's decision in March last year.
(A private prosecution is conducted by a private individual or entity, rather than a prosecuting authority with statutory power to prosecute.)
Prior to this, during a proceeding at the Court of Appeal, the prosecution said the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) had decided not to pursue the charges against the two preachers.
At Tuesday's proceedings, Shashi was represented by lawyer S. Ravichandran, while the prosecution was represented by DPP Solehah Noratikah Ismail. – Bernama
