PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has adjourned Melalap assemblyman Peter Anthony’s final appeal against his conviction for forgery to Aug 1 to allow the prosecution to respond to new issues raised by the defence.
A three-member bench chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim fixed an early hearing date after lawyer Nicholas Kow said his client wanted to clear his name through the court process as quickly as possible.
“We have read the submissions of both parties but are allowing the application. A short adjournment is given since the appellant also wants the appeal heard early,” he said.
Also on the bench were Justices Azmi Ariffin and Zaini Mazlan.
At the outset of today’s proceeding, deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin said he needed time to reply to new issues raised by the defence in its written submissions.
“We need to evaluate the matter and file further written submissions,” he said.
Wan Shahruddin, who was assisted by deputy public prosecutors Haresh Prakash Somia and Nurul Atiqah Alias, said the prosecution was ready to proceed if the adjournment application was refused.
He also told the bench that the Attorney-General’s Chambers had rejected Peter’s representations for the prosecution to concede to his appeal.
Kow then said that Peter, the Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat president, wanted a hearing as the Sabah state election was “coming up”.
The next state election must be held in the third quarter of next year.
Article 17(1) of the Sabah constitution states that an elected or nominated assemblyman will be disqualified if he or she has been convicted of an offence by a court of law in any part of the federation.
The provision also states that the disqualification comes into effect if a jail term of a year or more is imposed and the fine is RM2,000 or higher.
The courtroom was filled with Peter’s supporters, who included Bandau assemblyman and Kota Marudu MP Wetrom Bahanda.
Peter was sentenced to three years’ jail and fined RM50,000 for forging a letter from the office of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor for fraudulent purposes.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur last year said the sessions court did not commit any error, either in law or in fact, when finding Peter guilty of the charge in May 2022.
Ahmad also maintained the sentence imposed by trial judge Azura Alwi.
Peter, who was Sabah infrastructure development minister when Warisan was in power between 2018 and 2020, paid the fine. He is on RM80,000 bail pending his appeal.
Peter, 53, then the managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati, was convicted of forging a letter dated June 9, 2014 by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it for fraudulent purposes.
He committed the offence at the office of the principal private secretary to then prime minister Najib Razak at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014.
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