Retiree pleads not guilty to assault charge in Ramadan eating incident after earlier DNAA

The Star

The senior citizen accused of slapping a non-Muslim for eating in public during Ramadan has claimed trial at the Johor Baru Magistrate’s Court.  This development came just hours after Abdul Razak Ismail, 65, was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in the same court earlier on Wednesday (March 19).  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4ud5hpne  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00A case that captured public attention after the videos went viral took a new turn on Wednesday.

00:09A senior citizen, accused of slapping a young man for eating in public during Ramadan, has

00:14pleaded not guilty to a charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

00:18Sixty-five-year-old Abdul Razak Ismail appeared again before Magistrate A. Sharmini on Wednesday,

00:24where he was accused of slapping 21-year-old Elijah Lingjaojong at a mall in Tampoy.

00:30The government retiree was charged under Section 3.2.3 of the Penal Code and faces up to one

00:36year in prison, a fine of up to 2,000 ringgit, or both if convicted.

00:42Deputy Public Prosecutor Noor Afiqa Moussa requested bail to be set at 8,000 ringgit.

00:49However, defense lawyer Mohamed Saleh Togimin requested a lower bail amount, highlighting

00:56his client's status as a retiree supporting three children, including a university student.

01:03He also emphasized that Abdul Razak had cooperated fully with authorities from the beginning.

01:09Magistrate Sharmini ultimately granted bail at 2,000 ringgit and scheduled the next mention

01:14for April 29.

01:16This development came just hours after Abdul Razak was granted a discharge not amounting

01:22to an acquittal in the same court this morning.

01:25The DNAA came after instructions from the Attorney General's Chambers to refer the

01:30case back for review, and was issued moments after the court rejected Abdul Razak's guilty

01:35plea when he disputed key facts, despite admitting to injuring the victim.

01:40The AGC later clarified that the request for a DNAA was made due to a technical issue

01:46with the charge filed against him this morning.

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