Syarie Judge Mohd Nazri Yusof acquitted Ismail Yahya, 60, after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case at the end of the prosecution’s case.
This was the first case of its kind in the state.
In his judgment, Mohd Nazri said the testimonies of several prosecution witnesses were weak, and documents submitted were incomplete, while some important witnesses were not called.
On the claim that Ismail insulted Maidam through a letter sent to the Terengganu State Secretary (SUK) Mazlan Ngah, Mohd Nazri said the word “maksiat” (vice), as stated in the letter, was only used as an example to refer to acts violating the orders of God and not the personal opinion of the accused to insult Maidam.
He added that the letter was also clearly addressed to the SUK to answer several questions and Ismail was not creating any dispute.
He also believed that the SUK should refer the matter to legal counsel as the issues raised were about restructuring, which also involved the Shariah Court.
During the proceedings, which began in May, the prosecution called eight witnesses, including Mazlan and several senior Maidam officials.
Ismail was charged on Oct 27, 2013, with allegedly committing the offence on Oct 29, 2012 at the Terengganu Shariah Judiciary Department.
For the first charge, Ismail was alleged to have insulted Maidam when he wrote a letter sent to the SUK at the Terengganu Shariah Judiciary Department.
In the letter, he had written: “Thus, it appears that efforts by Maidam to take over and place the administration of the Terengganu Shariah Court under its control is an effort towards doing an act of vice. It is the responsibility of those in charge not to support such efforts.”
On the second charge, at the same time and location, Ismail was alleged to have written a letter addressed to the SUK questioning the orders of the Sultan of Terengganu, as the head of Islam, over his consent for the restructuring of Maidam’s administrative institution, as stated in the minutes of Maidam’s 5th meeting on Oct 21.
Some of the questions raised in the letter were: “Do the proposals intended to be implemented by Maidam mean they want to mix the judiciary with the administrative division? Next comes the question of what would the rule be according to syarie law regarding mixing the judiciary with the administrative division?”
The accused further questioned in his letter: “Do the actions of Maidam, which is working hard, and determined to put the administration of the Terengganu Shariah Court under its control, mean it does not want to follow the syarie law and the legal provisions available in our country, both at the national level or the state level?”
Ismail was accused of committing the offence under Section 10 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Takzir) (Terengganu) Enactment 2001 and punishable under the same section, which carries a fine not exceeding RM3,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, if convicted.
Syarie Chief Prosecutor Mustafar Hamzah appeared for the prosecution while Ismail was represented by syarie lawyers Saadiah Din and Rubiah Jaafar.