Former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony has been granted permission by the Court of Appeal to present new evidence in his final appeal to overturn his conviction, prison sentence, and fine for forgery. The panel of three judges, led by Justice Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, approved his application on Wednesday (Feb 7) after the DPPs Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Haresh Prakash Somiah did not object to it.
This decision came after an earlier appeal to the High Court to set aside his conviction was dismissed. Anthony was represented by lawyers Datuk Nicholas Kow Eng Chuan and Emile Ezra Md Hussain. His new evidence is related to a police report lodged by Mohd Shukur Mohd Din, who is the third prosecution witness and a friend of Anthony. The prosecution did not object to the application because they believed the evidence had no relevance in the appeal.
The case management has been set for Thursday (Feb 8) to be conducted online by Justice Vazeer, sitting with Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan. Anthony’s initial appeal to the Court of Appeal was filed in April last year after he was found guilty of forging a letter for a mechanical and electrical systems maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in 2014. He was sentenced to three years in jail and fined RM50,000, or 15 months’ jail in default, by the Sessions Court on May 26, 2022.
It will be Anthony’s final appeal in the Court of Appeal, as his case originated from the Sessions Court. He was charged in his capacity as managing director of Syarikat Asli Jati Sdn Bhd with forging a letter from the office of the UMS deputy vice-chancellor dated June 9, 2014, by inserting a false statement to use it for fraudulent purposes. The offence was committed at the office of the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014.
The charge was under Section 468 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a fine upon conviction. However, the Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president paid the fine. – Bernama
