Sylvain Vidal, 65, of Tanjung Bungah, who has lived in Penang for 20 years under a Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa, was relieved with the decision, after going through the 18-months trial as a cancer patient.
“I couldn’t believe how the police could arrest and prosecute me when I never said anything hurtful to my neighbour. Thankfully, justice has been served,” he said outside the courtroom after the verdict.
Earlier, magistrate Rosnee Mohd Radzuan ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case.
On April 1 last year, Vidal was charged with uttering threatening words to Cheah Lim Boon Keong in front of his house at Jalan Sentosa, Tanjung Bungah, at 9.15am on March 15, 2019.
Vidal, a wine export manager, was charged with criminal intimidation, which carries a seven-year jail term on conviction.
Cheah told the court that Vidal had uttered the words “Don’t talk to my wife this way or I will kill you or put you in the hospital,” while driving past his house.
He believed Vidal acted in the manner because he had reprimanded the Frenchman’s wife for walking an unleashed dog in the neighbourhood.
Vidal denied threatening Cheah, saying he had driven to the front of Cheah’s house to ask why he was rude to his wife. He said when Cheah kept quiet, he told him: “Why (do) you scold and insult my wife? You must go to the hospital and see the doctor because I think something is wrong.”
Vidal also claimed he had been told by several neighbours that Cheah was plotting to “remove” his family from the neighbourhood, a claim Cheah denied.
Muhamad Afifi A Rahman, a police sergeant from the Tanjung Tokong station, told the court he did not take Vidal’s statement or ask for an explanation before placing him under arrest.
Afifi said he arrested Vidal on orders from senior investigating officer Azrul Azizan Mat Rawi.
He said he was told to open an investigation paper under Section 506 of the Penal Code and the Immigration Act because Vidal might be in Malaysia illegally. Police had said the passport had been sent to the French embassy for verification.
He said the Penang prosecution unit of the Attorney-General’s Chambers was instructed to charge the accused with criminal intimidation on March 29.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohammad Syafiq Nasrullah Saleem Ali prosecuted, while Vidal was represented by V Parthipan and Sharmela Tamilmani.
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