PROSECUTION FILES APPEAL AGAINST DA'I SYED'S 10 YEAR IMPRISONMENT

SHAH ALAM,  Nov 5 (Bernama) -- The prosecution in the case of celebrity preacher Syed Shah Iqmal Syed Mohd Shaiful, also known as Da'i Syed,  who has been convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years in jail and three strokes of the cane for the offence, has filed an appeal at the High Court seeking longer imprisonment.

Lawyer Muhammad Amin Othman, representing the preacher, told reporters this when met after the case management before High Court Senior Assistant Registrar Nadia Othman today.

"We (defence) are appealing against the conviction and sentence, while the prosecution is appealing against the (10 years) imprisonment," he said, adding that the court fixed Dec 10 for further case management.

Syed Shah Iqmal, temporarily released from prison after the High Court granted a stay of execution of his 10-year jail sentence pending his appeal, arrived at the court at 9.15 am.

Last Aug 30, Shah Alam Session Court judge Norazlin Othman sentenced Syed Shah Iqmal to 10 years in prison and three strokes of the cane for raping a 23-year-old woman in a room at a condominium in I-City, Section 7 here, at about 1.35 am on Sept 11, 2019.

The judge also dismissed his bid to stay the execution of the punishment on the grounds that there were no special circumstances that would warrant the stay.

On April 10 last year, Syed Shah Iqmal was acquitted and discharged by the same court of the rape charge on grounds that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case at the end of the prosecution's case against him.

However, on March 7 this year, the Shah Alam High Court overturned the Sessions Court's decision after allowing the prosecution's appeal and ordered the accused to defend himself against the charge.

-- BERNAMA