Court frees sister accused of shielding activist from cops

Activist Jufazli Shi Ahmad was prevented by his sister Nurazimah from being handed over to police, the Kajang Magistrate’s Court heard today. (Facebook pic)

KAJANG: The magistrate’s court here today acquitted the sister of activist Jufazli Shi Ahmad for allegedly obstructing a police officer from arresting her brother at their apartment early this year.

Magistrate Shahrul Zazly Md Zain said the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Nurazimah because the police had no lawful authority when they carried out their duties.

“The police had no warrant for carrying out the search at the accused’s house and to arrest Jufazli,” he said.

The magistrate said Nurazimah’s request for the police to produce their warrants was also valid and reasonable.

Shahrul said police must be armed with the warrants when they were investigating Jufazli under Section 504 of the Penal Code and under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Section 504 of the Penal Code deals with action against anyone who intentionally insults to cause provocation and disrupt public peace, while Section 233 is for improper use of network facilities.

Nurazimah, 31, was charged with obstructing investigating officer ASP Muhamad Ridzuan Manap when they came to arrest Jufazli at her apartment in Taman Segar Perdana at about 3am on March 16.

According to the charge sheet, she refused to cooperate with the police party led by Ridzuan to conduct a house search.

She is said to have chased them away, and threatened to kill herself should they arrest her brother.

Nurazimah, represented by M Visvanathan, also held Jufazli tightly to prevent the police from taking him away.

Visvanathan told FMT that following today’s decision, a civil suit may be initiated against the police and government for wrongful arrest and confinement.

“Today’s ruling shows the police must also follow the law even though they are entrusted to enforce law and order,” he said.

FMT had previously reported that Jufazli, a former DAP member, was initially picked up by police on March 16 after a report was lodged against him.

He was also arrested for the second time on March 21 for an investigation into a 58-minute video he had recorded before his first arrest on March 16.

Jufazli had accused Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad of various crimes, including corruption, power abuse and colluding with PAS president Hadi Awang and Sarawak head of state Taib Mahmud.

He had previously been a staunch supporter of the new federal government and had showered praises on Mahathir and his leadership.

However, he changed his tune drastically from Feb 24 and started accusing Mahathir and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) of trying to protect Hadi and former prime minister Najib Razak. - FMT