Ex-Sabah minister Peter Anthony fails in review bid, remains in jail

New Straits Times

14 hours ago

PUTRAJAYA: Former Sabah infrastructure minister Datuk Peter Anthony's last-ditch attempt to overturn his forgery conviction failed after the Court of Appeal (CoA) today upheld his three-year jail sentence and RM50,000 fine.
Peter, 54, will remain in Kajang Prison as his legal battle has come to an end after a CoA review panel, led by Datuk Azman Abdullah, ruled that there was no merit in his application.
His status as the Melalap assemblyman now hangs in limbo pending the official announcement by the Sabah legislative assembly on the vacancy of the seat.
Peter had filed a revision application challenging an earlier panel's decision to uphold the conviction and sentence handed down by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court in May 2022.
A three-member CoA panel led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim had earlier ordered Peter to serve his sentence after dismissing his appeal against the Sessions Court ruling, which was upheld by the High Court in 2023.
Azman, who sat with Datuk Noorin Badaruddin and Datuk Hayatul Akmal Aziz, said the court did not find any miscarriage of justice in the subject of contention — an Aug 9, 2018 police report lodged by the third prosecution witness, the late Mohd Shukor Mohd Din.
Reading out the unanimous decision, Azman said the matter had been extensively submitted before the earlier CoA panel.
"The absence of this issue in the broad grounds of judgment does not amount to a failure of justice, because it is clear that it had been fully commented on in the full judgment.
"It is tough for us to assume that this issue was not considered just because it was not stated or commented on in the broad grounds by the earlier panel, as it was the main issue submitted during the appeal," he said.
Azman said this was supported by the earlier panel's full grounds of judgment in which the matter was discussed in detail.
"It is not the duty of this court to re-hear questions that involve the statements and facts that have already been decided.
"We find there is no breach of natural justice as the applicant (Peter) was given the right to be heard.
"We find no merit to this application. With this, the application is dismissed," he said.
After the decision, Peter, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, was brought out of the courtroom to be sent back to prison.
During a short recess, he was seen speaking with family members and supporters in the public gallery.
Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Datuk Rosal Azimin Ahmad represented Peter, while the prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Haresh Prakash Somiah.
Earlier, Haniff submitted that the absence of any mention of the fresh evidence - the police report - in the broad grounds meant the earlier panel had not considered it at all.
"This is where we say there is a miscarriage of justice on the grounds that the applicant (Peter) was not given a right to be heard.
"If the court agrees that there is a miscarriage of justice which warrants a review on the fresh evidence, then his conviction and sentence need to be annulled and there must be an order for a retrial at the Sessions Court," he said.
In rebuttal, Wan Shaharuddin argued that Peter failed to meet the stipulated threshold, where limited and special circumstances must be shown, and that the application ought to be dismissed.
He said the defence's complaint of a breach of natural justice was unfounded as the police report had been raised and addressed.
"We put forth several exhibits, and dozens of paragraphs are about the police report.
"The applicant was not stopped or barred from submitting about the police report.