JOHOR BAHRU – An elderly man who went viral for slapping a non-Muslim youth in an incident at a convenience store last Sunday was granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) by the Magistrate’s Court here today from the charge of voluntarily causing hurt.
The accused, Abdul Razak Ismail, 65, however, will be recharged on another date.
Magistrate A Shaarmini made the ruling after the court was informed of the latest instruction for the prosecution to classify the case as DNAA and to refer it to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) in Putrajaya.
“The prosecution has received an instruction for this case to be classified as DNAA for the time being and to refer the investigation paper to the AGC Headquarters in Putrajaya. So the case against you is DNAA,” she said.
Earlier, Abdul Razak pleaded guilty to the charge of voluntarily causing hurt to Elijah Ling Zhao Zhong, at a convenience store in a shopping mall here at 3.45 pm, last Sunday.
The charge, framed under Section 323 of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of up to a year or a fine not exceeding RM2,000, or both, upon conviction.
According to the facts of the case, the victim, who is also the complainant, stated that he was slapped by the accused and the results of the victim’s medical examination found that there was a bruise on his right cheek.
However, after the facts of the case were read out, Abdul Razak did not admit the facts, saying that they were not true.
Magistrate: Since you didn’t admit the facts of the case, I hereby reject your guilty plea and you have to appoint a lawyer to enter defence.
Abdul Razak: Then, I will just plead guilty. I have a wife to support.
Magistrate: Encik Abdul Razak, the court cannot accept a conditional guilty plea such as “I do not admit the facts of the case exactly, but I want to plead guilty because I have a responsibility”. That is a conditional guilty plea, the court cannot accept such a guilty plea. I will set a mention date since you did not admit the facts of the case for you to appoint a lawyer.
Before the date of mention was set, deputy public prosecutor Nur Fatihah Mohd Nizam told the court that the prosecution had received the latest instruction for the accused to be discharged not amounting to acquittal and to refer the case to the AGC.
When asked by the Magistrate whether the accused would be recharged later, Nur Fatihah said yes.
Last Monday, Johor Bahru North police chief ACP Balveer Singh Mahindar Singh confirmed police had received a report from the 21-year-old complainant at 9.08 pm on Sunday.
Balveer Singh was quoted as saying that in the incident at 3.45 pm on Sunday, the complainant who was eating at the time claimed that he was slapped twice on the right cheek by an unknown man after being asked about his religion and asked to show his MyKad as evidence.
The incident also went viral on social media through two videos lasting 32 and 44 seconds. – March 19, 2025