Kuala Lumpur: Parti Kesejahteraan Demo-kratik Masyarakat (KDM) president Peter Anthony (pic) has filed an application to stay his conviction pending the outcome of his appeal to the High Court.
The application was made to allow Peter, 51, to contest a parliamentary seat in Sabah at the 15th general election which must be held by September next year.
On May 26, the sessions court here sentenced Peter to three years’ jail after he was found guilty of falsifying a letter from the office of Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS) deputy vice-chancellor for system maintenance contract work.
Judge Azura Alwi also fined the Melalap assemblyman RM50,000, in default 15 months’ jail.
Soon after the conviction was pronounced, Peter sought a stay of his sentence which was partially allowed.
He paid the fine, but his jail sentence was suspended pending his appeal.
Azura will hear the current stay application on July 18.
Lawyer D Senthinathan, who filed an affidavit in support of Peter’s application, said there were special circumstances to warrant a stay of the conviction.
He said Peter’s nomination to contest a seat in the Dewan Rakyat at the 15th general election could be rejected if the conviction remains.
Senthinathan said Peter’s appeal would be an exercise in futility or rendered nugatory should the High Court set aside the conviction and sentence.
Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin confirmed that the prosecution had been served with the cause papers.
Peter, the then managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati, was accused of forging a letter from the UMS deputy vice-chancellor’s office dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement with the intention of using it for fraudulent purposes.
The offence was said to have been committed at the office of the principal private secretary to the prime minister at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014.
