KUALA LUMPUR: Former Sabah state minister Peter Anthony, convicted of using a forged document in May, has contended that his trial was a nullity as no approval had been secured from the public prosecutor.
In an appeal to the High Court, Peter claimed that the trial judge, Azura Alwi, had continued with the case despite knowing that sanction was required under the Criminal Procedure Code.
The lack of sanction was one of 37 grounds in his petition of appeal filed earlier today.
Peter said Azura had failed to give him the benefit of doubt on various facts and inference that favoured him.
Peter also took issue with the judge’s reliance on circumstantial and direct evidence to hold that he had falsified documents to commit the offence.
His petition also pleaded that the trial judge erred in stating that his defence was an afterthought, inconsistent and a bare denial.
Peter said Azura failed to give adequate consideration to the evidence of defence expert witness Nurul Aiman Azmail and that the prosecution had failed to call another expert to rebut her testimony.
On May 26, Azura sentenced Peter to three years’ jail and fined him RM50,000 after he was found guilty of the charge.
Peter, who is the Melalap assemblyman in Sabah, paid the fine but remains free after the court stayed his sentence of imprisonment pending the outcome of his appeal.
Peter, 51, as the then managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati, was accused of forging a letter from the office of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah deputy vice-chancellor dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it for fraudulent purposes. - FMT
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