JOHOR BAHRU - An event management company owner pleaded not guilty at the Magistrate's Court here, today, to a charge of making death threats against members of the Indonesian rock band Radja last Saturday.
C. S. Muremthiram, 37, was charged with criminal intimidation by threatening to kill band members Ian Kasela, 49; Seno Aji Wibowo, 43; and Mouldyanshah Mulyadi, 49; with the intention of causing them alarm.
The accused is alleged to have committed the offence in the backstage room of the Larkin Arena Stadium at 11 pm last Saturday.
The charge under Section 506 of the Penal Code provides for a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment or with a fine or both, if convicted.
Muremthiram was represented by lawyer Amarpreet Singh.
Watching brief were lawyers appointed by the band. Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Johor Bahru, Sigit S. Widiyanto was also present.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharifah Natasha Syed Ahmad urged the court to fix bail at RM8,000 and for the accused not to have any contact with the band members and prosecution witnesses.
Magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Samsudin then set bail at RM4,000 after Amarpreet pleaded for a lower amount on the grounds that the accused earned between RM3,000 and RM3,500 and had a wife, elderly parents and two younger siblings to support.
Amarpreet told the court that Muremthiram had also suffered losses of almost RM300,000 from organising the band’s concert.
Case mention was fixed for May 3.
It was previously reported that two men had been arrested in connection with a case where members of the Radja band received death threats after their concert in Johor Bahru on Saturday night. - BERNAMA