Seafield temple riot: 17 men acquitted, discharged

PETALING JAYA - The magistrate’s court here today acquitted and discharged 17 men who were accused of rioting at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya five years ago, without calling for their defence.

Magistrate Muhammad Iskandar Zainol made the decision after the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the group at the end of the prosecution's case.

In his ruling, Muhammad Iskandar said the court found that witnesses in the case had failed to identify the accused persons involved in the case and the witnesses’ statements in the court were inconsistent.

"The prosecution also did not tender any weapon in court as an exhibit such as a knife as stated in the charge sheet.

"All the weapons were merely collected from the scene by the witnesses and not seized from the accused persons,” he said.

The 17 who were acquitted are Saifullah Abdullah, Muhammad Riduan Sekh Ruslan, Irwan Noordin, Mohamad Khairi Abdul Rashid, Rozaihan Zakaria, Muhammad Qayyum Mohd Faisal, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Faizal, Absal Eastrie Abdullah, Mohamed Jalil Talib, Muhammad Khairol Anuar Zabidi, Mohd Zamri Md Said, Shukri Razali, Nor Azmi Abdul Ghani, Mohammad Shahril Danniel Sajeel, Muhammad Hasneezam Shah Samsudin, Akmal Izzat Azi and Mohd Norul Ismawi Islahuddin.

The men, aged between 24 and 47, were charged with rioting and possessing dangerous weapons between 2 am and 5 am on Nov 26, 2018.

They were charged under Section 148 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, a fine, or both, upon conviction. - BERNAMA