Court allows stay on MyWatch chief’s jail term

 

On Nov 27, the Temerloh High Court had ordered R Sri Sanjeevan to serve his sentence in Kuantan after rejecting his appeal on a charge of blackmail. (Bernama pic)

TEMERLOH: The High Court here today allowed the application of Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) chairman R Sri Sanjeevan for a stay of execution of his three-month jail term until his appeal against his conviction has been decided.

Judge Hassan Abdul Ghani, however, ordered Sanjeevan to pay bail of RM35,000 with two sureties and submit his passport, if any, to the court until the case is settled.

“The applicant must also report himself to the Semenyih police station in Kajang, Selangor, every week until the hearing of the case at the Court of Appeal is completed and to obtain the permission of the Kajang district police chief before leaving the district.

“If the applicant violates any of these conditions, his bail would be cancelled,” he said.

Sanjeevan was seen smiling at his family members who were in the court’s public gallery, upon hearing the decision.

Counsel S Preakas, who represented Sanjeevan on Wednesday’s proceedings, had informed the court that the Court of Appeal had set Jan 14 for the hearing of his client’s appeal.

At the proceedings, deputy public prosecutor Law Chin How represented the public prosecutor who was named as the respondent in the application.

In August 2018, Sanjeevan had been sentenced to three months’ jail and fined RM7,000 after being convicted of blackmailing a businessman seven years ago.

He was charged with committing the offence by demanding RM1,500 from the victim at the risk of not being able to continue business. The offence was committed at 9.45pm on July 1, 2013 at Jalan Dagangan 8, Triang Commercial Centre, Bera, near here.

The Magistrate’s Court at that time received Sanjeevan’s application to postpone his prison sentence and ordered bail of RM3,000 for him to be increased to RM6,000. The fine was however settled.

On Nov 27, the High Court here, after hearing Sanjeevan’s appeal against his conviction and sentence, upheld the Magistrate’s Court’s decision. It rejected his application to postpone his jail sentence as he intended to appeal to a higher level.

The decision resulted in Sanjeevan being sent to Penor Prison in Kuantan, about 130km from here, to begin serving his sentence the same day. - FMT