SHAH ALAM – There will be neither justice nor reform for Mohamad Safiq Rosli’s mental state if he remains in jail, said lawyer Fithril Hakim Ab Jalil in his submission to magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu today.
This, he said in pleading with the court to invoke Sections 347 and 348 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which deal with acquitting an accused on grounds of mental disorder and detaining the accused in a mental institution for as long as the state ruler permits.
He submitted that the prosecution’s cherry picking of the medical report by Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta on Safiq’s mental state is borderline abusive of court process.
“The prosecution took cognisant of the accused’s mental state in wanting to take the case to trial. But to what end?
“Because (even if trial took place), the prosecution would still ask for Section 347 to be invoked. By then, my client (Safiq) would have stayed in prison longer.
“There’s no justice for him if he remains in prison,” he said.
Fithril further submitted that Safiq himself, together with his family and even the victim, Acacia Mardiana Daud herself, wanted Safiq to be institutionalised.
“This is not an attempt to let go of his culpability. The accused is within his rights to just plead guilty, serve his sentence and go.
“But under Section 347, the accused would be acquitted, sent to an institution, and treated for his medical state,” he said.
The court then adjourned until 11.30am to deliver its decision on the case.
Safiq, on December 15, changed his plea to guilty to repeatedly harassing Acacia Mardiana Daud on social media platform X (formely Twitter).
He was previously charged with the same offence on August 10, where he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail on November 9. The bail remains unposted.
In the charge sheet, it was claimed that Safiq, also known as ‘Sopert’ in Acacia’s posts, should have known his actions would incite fear in the victim.
He was charged under Section 507A of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail, a fine, or both upon conviction.
The case made headlines when Acacia took to her social media platforms to share her harrowing experience.
She shared details of alleged harassment from Safiq that began in 2016. She said some of the online harassment also came in the form of lewd photos and expressions that they were “in love”.
She also alleged that Safiq had stalked her all the way to the United Kingdom previously, which led to her lodging a report with the UK authorities.
This prompted them to arrest Safiq and charge him in court for harassment.
However, she said that Safiq had not had his day in court as he fled the UK and returned to Malaysia prior to being charged here – December 20, 2023