TENOM: The Magistrate's Court has ordered preacher Ebit Irawan Lew, or Ebit Lew, to enter his defence on 11 sexual harassment charges.
Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani said the court found that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against Ebit Lew, 41, on all charges.
"After examination and evaluation, with a positive assessment of the credibility and reliability of all the evidence presented by the prosecution witnesses and after hearing submissions from both parties, as well as upon maximum evaluation of all the prosecution's evidence, this court finds that a prima facie case has been successfully established by the prosecution against the accused," said Nur Asyraf.
The court made the decision at the end of the prosecution's case after hearing testimony from 18 prosecution witnesses during the trial, which began in September 2022.
Ebit Lew was charged with 11 counts of sexual harassment, including outraging the modesty of a woman in her 40s by sending obscene images and messages via WhatsApp between March and June 2021.
He was charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, or a fine, or both, upon conviction. – Bernama
