Kota Kinabalu: The three charges of bribery against a 59-year-old civil servant had been withdrawn following his death.
Sessions Court Judge Abu Bakar Manat made the order for the late Athanasius John Malis who died on June 22 this year.
The court discharged and acquitted Athanasius from all the charges on Monday after being informed by the defence about the matter.
The prosecution then requested for the charges against Athanasius to be withdrawn and to be discharged and acquitted from the charges.
During the proceedings which was brought up for mention of the case, counsel Dominic Chew who represented Athanasius, told the court about his client and also tendered the death certificate of Athanasius.
On the first count, Athanasius allegedly asked RM15,000 as deposit from the total RM60,000 payment from one Muhammad Hasri Lim Abdullah, as an inducement to change the said land status from “Countryside zone” to “Residential zone” without the permission from LPPBD and City Hall.
The offence allegedly took place at Karamunsing Complex here at 9.50am on Sept 5, 2019.
The offence, under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same Act, carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of bribe received or RM10,000, whichever is higher, on conviction.
On the second and third charges, Athanasius was accused of obtaining RM15,000 and RM45,000 for the complete amount of the said payment from Muhammad, as a reward for changing and amending the said land status without obtaining permission and approval from the said authorities.
The alleged offence took place inside a car park at Jalan Tuaran Karamunsing at 8.30am on Sept 12, 2019 and at a car park at Medan Selera D’Riverside, Sadong Jaya, here at 11.25am on Nov 20, 2019.
Athanasius was charged on April 20, 2021 and claimed trial to the charges against him.
He was released on bail pending the disposal of his case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Haresh Prakash Somiah from MACC appeared for the prosecution.
