Justice revisit 2023: Reflection of trials, triumphs

YEAR 2023 draws to a close within the hallowed halls of justice that have defined the past 12 months, with the Kuching Court Complex becoming an arena for justice, controversy and societal shifts.

Reflecting on the trials and triumphs of 2023, a significant case unfolded in the Kuching High Court where the sons of Yang Di Pertua Negeri Sarawak Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud had filed a legal suit against their stepmother Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Raghad Kurdi Taib.

Earlier in June this year, Raghad was being sued by stepsons Dato Sri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib and Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, who sought a court injunction to halt the transfer of company shares to Raghad.

The plaintiffs, represented by counsels Alvin Chong and Jonathan Tay, also named RHB Investment Bhd as the second defendant.

Presiding Judicial Commissioner Alexander Siew How Wai has fixed the hearing on Feb 19, 2024, and as at time of writing, the trial has yet to take place.

In another noteworthy case heard in the High Court was of a 52-year-old filing an originating summons to seek a declaration of her having the right to determine the religion and upbringing of her teenage son, who has a Muslim name on his MyKad, in early August this year.

The mother, however, lost her bid to get a court declaration to change her son’s religion from Islam to Buddhism after Judge Zaleha Rose Pandin stated that the changes sought were tantamount to renouncing the faith and not simply seeking for a declaration, apart from saying that the case would fall within the purview of the Syariah Court.

In a separate civil suit, another discerning case was unveiled at the High Court, where 12 people filed a legal suit against the governments of Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Sarawak, seeking to nullify the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

The 12 people, through their counsel Voon Lee Shan had submitted that the MA63 was entered into by North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak through fraud and misrepresentation by the United Kingdom and Malayan governments without according the people the freedom to choose whether they wanted to join Malaysia through a referendum.

However, on May 25 this year, Judicial Commissioner Alexander Siew How Wai struck out the suit on the grounds that it was not sustainable and the plaintiffs had no locus standi to take up the suit to declare the MA63 as void.

Meanwhile, in the realm of criminal matters, the case of a 51-year-old man who succumbed to injuries sustained from an assault at a hotel in Batu Kawa, Kuching in October this year, culminated in the conviction of 10 individuals aged between 15 and 33, for committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The Kuching Magistrates’ Court, between Nov 10 and Dec 7, convicted Hartley Tuntun Jerah to five years’ jail, Ashley Chin and Albert Chin Quan to four years’ jail each, along with sending four child offenders and two youth offenders to Puncak Borneo Henry Gurney School, after they pleaded guilty to the charges.

They were charged under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

In the same case, Ayu Abdullah, was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code read together with Section 304(b) of the same Code, for conspiring with her husband Ashley, in causing the death of the victim, and was sentenced to five years in jail.

Another case emerged at the Kuching Sessions Court on Dec 6, where an Indonesian woman who was charged with infanticide, having disposed of her newborn child into a dumpster behind an eatery in Batu Kawa. She was ordered to undergo mental observation at the Sentosa Hospital for a month.

Jamilah Amin, 23, who was charged under Section 309B of the Penal Code, claimed trial to committing infanticide before Judge Saiful Bahari Adzmi after she was accused of committing the offence at 9.50pm on Nov 22.

In a disheartening echo of the prior case, the court once again presided over a case involving a 14-year-old girl who concealed the birth of her daughter, in November this year.

On Dec 11, the Magistrates’ Court placed the girl on a six-month good behaviour bond after she pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 67 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The discovery of a newborn girl near Lorong 19 of Cahaya Damai in Bandar Baru Samariang in Kuching at 9.45am on Nov 29, with the umbilical cord still attached, prompted immediate police intervention and subsequent medical care at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).

Meanwhile on Feb 27, the Kuching Sessions Court sentenced an Algerian man to a total of 42 years in prison and 18 strokes of the cane for committing incest and sexual assault on his daughter, now aged 15.

The 51-year-old man was found guilty to three counts of committing incest under Section 376B(1) of the Penal Code, and was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and five strokes of the cane for each charge.

He was also found guilty to one count of sexually assaulting his daughter, under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and three strokes of the cane.

After ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Judge Dayang Ellyn Narisa Abang Ahmad ordered the Algerian’s jail sentence to run consecutively, for him to undergo counselling sessions while in prison, as well as for him to be placed under police supervision for two years upon his release.

In another case, on June 12, two Indonesians had escaped from Tapah police station lock-up, but only one was convicted, while the other is still at large.

On June 20, the Kuching Magistrates’ Court convicted the Indonesian, named Kelvin, to one year in jail after he pleaded guilty to Section 224 of the Penal Code for escaping police lock-up.

This year’s court proceedings brought both closure and controversies, underscoring the complexities that judges, lawyers, and citizens had to navigate within the realm of justice.

From high-profile trials to landmark judgments, the courts have played a pivotal role in defining the course of justice, marking 2023 as a year of legal significance.