Mat Sabu accuser admits allegation based on news report
BUTTERWORTH, June 11 — A police retiree told the Sessions Court here today that he had lodged a police report against PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, or Mat Sabu, based only on reports published in a Malay newspaper.
Visva Nathan, 75, from Raub, said he lodged the police report on August 27 last year after reading the newspaper report.
“I apologise and do not want the police to take action,” he told the court after being showed the newspaper reports and the text of a speech by Mat Sabu (picture).
Nathan, who is the first witness, was testifying in a criminal defamation case involving Mat Sabu before Judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin.
Mat Sabu, 57, from Guar Petai, Tasek Gelugor, is charged defaming policemen and their family members who defended themselves in an attack by communist guerrillas at the Bukit Kepong police station on February 23, 1950.
He is alleged to have committed the offence in a public address at Pusat Asuhan Tadika Islam (Pasti) Al-Fahmi, Markas Tarbiyah PAS in Padang Menora, Tasek Gelugor, between 10pm and midnight on August 23, 2011.
The charge under Section 500 of the Penal Code carries a two-year jail term or a fine, or both on conviction.
Mat Sabu was represented by lawyers Muhammed Hanipa Maidin, Nasar Khan Mirbas Khan and Aminuddin Zulkifli, while deputy public prosecutor Yusaini Amer Abd Karim prosecuted.
The court set July 13, 16 and 17 to continue hearing the case. — Bernama
