Former Perak MB gets discharge and release after apology to Najib

Former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin says he will be more careful in the future. – Pic by Wong Tuck Keong, October 28, 2015.

Former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was discharged and acquitted by the Sessions Court today after apologising for disparaging remarks about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In the apology read out in court, the Changkat Jering assemblyman said he realised that his remarks for the charge he was facing were baseless.

"I apologise sincerely to Najib and will be more careful in future," he said.

Judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin then released Nizar, after confirming with chief public prosecutor Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim that the words read by Nizar matched an apology letter Nizar had sent to Najib last week.

Nizar's lead counsel Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden had requested that his client be compounded under Section 260 of the Criminal Procedure Code as they had reached a settlement out of court.

The settlement included an open apology from Nizar to Najib.

Nizar was charged in January this year for allegedly making disparaging remarks against Najib.

The Perak state opposition leader is said to have made the remarks during the run-up to the 2013 general election campaign at Taman Desa Pakatan in Ipoh between 9pm and midnight on April 23, 2012.

The same court had previously discharged him not amounting to acquittal on a similar charge, due to technical issues.

- TMI