TENOM – Magistrate's Court here set Aug 1 to 5 for preacher Ebit Irawan Ibrahim Lew, better known as Ebit Lew’s trial date.
Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani also allowed the application for all 11 charges to be jointly-tried.
Ebit Lew, 37, was charged with 11 counts of alleged acts linked to sexual harassment by sending lewd pictures and messages to a woman through WhatsApp application between March and June 2021.
The charges were made under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries up to five years in jail, a fine, or both.
Earlier, the prosecution applied for the charges to be jointly-tried as the evidence and witness for the charges were interrelated.
Counsel representing the preacher, Ram Singh did not object to the application as long as it involved one complainant.
The prosecution was conducted by the State Prosecution Director Muhammad Ilmami Ahmad and Deputy Public Prosecutor Azreen Yas Mohammad Ramli, while Ebit was also represented by two other lawyers, Kamaruddin Mohmad Chinki and Timothy Daud.
In February, Sinar Harian reported that Ebit Lew pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges linked to sexual harassment in Tenom Circuit Court.