KUALA LUMPUR: Victims of crime, especially in sexual harassment cases, must be given the opportunity to present an impact statement in court before a judge determines the appropriate sentence to be passed on an offender, a lawyer said.
Salim Bashir said this will allow a trial judge vested with sentencing discretion to determine the appropriate measure of punishment to be meted out in any particular case.
“Section 183A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) allows for an oral or written statement to be given by victims or their family members before sentencing,” he said.
The former Bar Council chairman was commenting on a recent report that a victim of sexual harassment who turned up at the magistrates’ court to give evidence in a case against a former director of a Chinese association, only to find that he had pleaded guilty and sentenced to a fine several days earlier.
Veronica Wong, an ex-lawyer and daughter of MCA veteran leader Wong Mook Leong, said a court interpreter informed her that the trial of Yeo Kwi Seng had been brought forward after his lawyer wrote to the court.
She said neither the deputy public prosecutor nor the investigating officer informed her about the matter.
Magistrate Noorelynna Hanim Abdul Halim had on June 28 fined Yeo RM6,000 or six months imprisonment in lieu of payment.
Yeo, 69, an ex-Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Association director, paid the fine after he changed his plea and admitted to insulting Wong’s modesty by sending her lewd WhatsApp videos between May 23 and June 16, 2021.
Yeo had previously pleaded not guilty to the offence from under Section 509 of the Penal Code.
Salim acknowledged that the court had the discretion to bring forward the case on the application of parties but said the complainant should have been informed to enable her to be present in court.
Lawyer A Srimurugan said a High Court judge could use his revisionary power under Section 322 of the CPC to determine the correctness, legality and propriety of the proceedings conducted by the magistrate, including the conviction and sentence meted out.
Counsel Goh Han Koong, who held a watching brief, said both the prosecution and Yeo have 14 days until July 12 to file an appeal against the sentence.
“The RM6,000 fine has an impact on the public life of Yeo,” he said, referring to Section 9A of the Societies Act 1966 which prohibits a person from holding office in a registered society once fined more than RM2,000 or jailed a minimum one year. - FMT
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