Sessions Court judge Azreena Aziz appeared unamused when Issam Bakri, 42, handed her a drawing of himself as supporting evidence to his claim that he was a local Sabahan.

“Is this really your IC?” she asked, when given the drawing of a person with spiky hair wearing a buttoned shirt with doodles representing thumbprints at either end of the paper.

Issam had pleaded not guilty when first charged on April 26 with not having the necessary identification documents to be in Sabah. He maintained his innocence when the charge was read back to him yesterday.

With a straight face, he said he had the required documents to fight the charge, and, with the court’s permission, pulled the drawing from his trouser pocket.

Activity in the courtroom came to a sudden pause as prosecuting officer Sabrina Jinius passed the “IC” to Azreena.

The judge asked Issam three times whether this was the document he meant, to which he replied, all three times, that it was.

Azreena then ordered for Issam to be sent to the Bukit Padang mental hospital here for a mental assessment.

The case will be mentioned again on June 26.

When met outside the court, Sabrina said this was the first time in her 15 years as a prosecutor that she had come across such a case.

“I don’t know whether to laugh or be angry,” she said.