Kuala Lumpur: The much-awaited hearing of an application by Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president Peter Anthony to stay his conviction for forgery pending the outcome of his appeal to the High Court has been adjourned.
Deputy public prosecutor Haresh Prakash said the matter was vacated as sessions court judge Azura Alwi was on emergency leave.
“It has now been rescheduled to be heard on July 28,” he told reporters.
Peter, who is also the Melalap assemblyman in Sabah, made the application on June 3 as he may contest a parliamentary seat in the 15th general election, which must be held by September next year.
On May 26, Azura sentenced Peter to three years’ jail after finding him guilty of falsifying a letter from the office of Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS) deputy vice-chancellor for system maintenance contract work.
Azura also fined Peter 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 to the High Court.
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 in GE15 could be rejected if the conviction remained.
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.
