Court set March 21 to hear appeal for Muslim preacher's arrest

The Court of Appeal has fixed March 21 to hear an appeal by two Hindu groups to reinstate a lawsuit to compel the police to arrest and investigate Muslim preacher Muhammad Zamri Vinoth.

Counsel Shanker Sundaram, who is acting for Pertubuhan Hindhudharma Malaysia and Majlis Belia Hindu Malaysia, confirmed the hearing date with Malaysiakini, which was set during the previous case management of the appeal.

Checks on the judiciary’s online cause list showed that the appeal is fixed for an online hearing on March 21.

The two NGOs are appealing against the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision on Jan 17 last year that allowed Zamri’s (above) application to strike out the civil action without its merits being heard.

In 2021, Zamri’s lawyers filed the striking-out bid on grounds that the writ of summons does not disclose a reasonable cause of action and was frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of the court process.

Besides Zamri, the civil action listed three defendants - the police, the Home Ministry, and the government.

On April 28, 2021, the two NGOs filed the writ of summons to seek court orders for Zamri to be arrested and investigated over alleged inflammatory speeches and writings.

The two groups also sought a declaration that the Muslim preacher was a threat to the security and peace of the multi-ethnic and multi-faith country of Malaysia.

The two plaintiffs claimed the police were negligent by not fully investigating Zamri despite receiving nearly 800 reports over the preacher’s alleged offences.

Alleged insult of Hindus

In April 2019, Zamri was arrested following claims linked to a sermon uploaded on social media which was deemed to have purportedly insulted Hindus. He was released later.

In July of that same year, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) reportedly said it would not be pressing charges against Zamri over the incident.

Then on Aug 6, 2020, through a parliamentary written reply, the Home Ministry said the investigation papers on Zamri were still with the AGC.

It said there were three investigation papers and a probe was carried out under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, Sections 298A and 504 of the Penal Code, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

It is not clear if the investigation papers mentioned by the Home Ministry were separate ones that were being considered. - Mkini