KUALA LUMPUR: A freelance preacher has been acquitted by the Sessions Court here of a charge of raping a then 14-year-old girl at a hotel five years ago.
Sessions Court judge Tasnim Abu Bakar ordered a discharge and acquittal without calling Muhammad Fathi Na'im Mazlam, 34, to enter his defence.
In her decision on Tuesday (May 12), the judge said the key witness in the case, who was also the victim, failed to give "an unusually convincing" account.
Judge Tasnim said the court allowed impeachment proceedings initiated by Fathi Na’im's defence team against the witness, known as SP3, during cross-examination.
The defence applied to impeach the witness, claiming there were material contradictions between her testimony in this case and her account in another case against Fathi Na'im at the Klang Sessions Court, where he was accused of nine sex-related charges, including rape, involving the same victim.
"After hearing, scrutinising and considering the testimonies from prosecution witnesses, the oral and written submissions as well as the authorities cited by parties in a maximum evaluation, this court finds that SP3's explanation during the impeachment proceedings and her testimony in this trial could not be categorised as believable or unusually convincing," Judge Tasnim said.
The court then acquitted the accused and ordered the return of the bail money.
On Dec 1, 2022, Fathi Na'im claimed trial to the charge of raping SP3 at a hotel in Jalan Imbi, Bukit Bintang, between 2am and 10am on Dec 3, 2021.
A total of 11 prosecution witnesses, including SP3, took the stand in the prosecution's trial.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Pervinah Mohamad Yusof told the media that the prosecution would appeal the acquittal.
When met by the press, Fathi Na'im, who was represented by lawyer Muhammad Ashraff Mohd Diah, said the case had taken four years of his life.
"Tak tahu nak cakap apa (I don't know what else to say)," said the father of eight before leaving.
On Sept 18, 2025, Fathi Na'im was sentenced by the Klang Sessions Court to 15 years and three whippings after he was found guilty of three rape and sexual molestation charges involving the same victim, who was then 13.
The offences were said to have been committed in a vehicle at a car park in Dataran Eco World, Bandar Baru Puncak Alam, in 2021.
Klang Sessions Court judge Noridah Adam did not allow the accused a stay of execution, but Fathi Na'im was later released on bail after the Klang High Court allowed his appeal for a stay.
The trial involving six other related charges has not begun.
