00:00A Malacca High Court judge has urged prosecutors to give accused persons fair and speedy trials
00:07by ensuring that all prosecution witnesses are present in court and ready to testify.
00:12Justice Radzi Abdul Hamid said accused persons spend much time and incur substantial expenses
00:18in defending themselves when prosecuted but cannot recover any legal costs if acquitted.
00:24Radzi stressed the importance of the prosecution keeping a tight rein of its cases by properly
00:29managing and conducting them in a way that allows them to be completed within the dates
00:32allocated by the court.
00:35The judge's remarks were contained in a 22-page judgment issued when allowing a revision application
00:40filed by civil servant Yusuf Daniel Khairul Hisham.
00:44The accused had been charged three times with the same drug offence but was only issued
00:48with a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the presiding magistrate on each occasion.
00:54Radzi said the prosecution had three opportunities between March and August this year to make
00:59the witness present in court.
01:01Instead, the court was told that the witness was in Sabah.
01:04Radzi said the continuation of the case would be a grave injustice on the applicant and
01:09the prosecution's use of Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code to charge the
01:14applicant repeatedly in the circumstances of the case was tantamount to an abuse of
01:18court process.
01:21Natasha Bust, FMT News.
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