PETALING JAYA: All 17 men charged with rioting at the Sri Maha MariammanTemple in Subang Jaya in November 2018 were acquitted by the Magistrate Court here today (June 27) without their defence being called.
Malaysiakini reported lawyer S Kirthiraj who represented the 17 accused saying that magistrate Iskandar Zainol ruled that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case over the incident.
The seventeen are: Akmal Izzat Azi, Norul Ismawi Islahuddin, Hasneezam Shah Samsudin, Saifullah Abdullah, Riduan Sekh Ruslan, Irwan Noordin, Khairi Abdul Rashid, Rozaihan Zakaria, Qayyum Faisal, Ashraf Faizal, Absal Eastrie Abdullah, Jalil Talib, Khairol Anuar Zabidi, Zamri Said, Shukri Razali, Nor Azmi Abdul Ghani, and Shahril Danniel Sajeel.
The infamous riots had resulted in the death of 24-year-old firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim who was among the first responders to the scene.
On Nov 26, violence erupted in the wee hours of the morning when a group of men had entered the temple.
The riots took place over the issue of the temple being relocated, with some devotees refusing to do so, which ultimately led to dozens of vehicles being torched and several people injured.
More to come.