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WHAT should be the immediate move to aid the accused duo – Siti Nuramira Abdullah and partner Alexander Navin Vijayachandran – from languishing in custody while their court cases are ongoing?
In a report by The Vibes, legal group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) will be aiding the duo accused of insulting Islam to raise RM40,000 to make bail.
The couple’s lawyer, R. Sivaraj, said they would want bail to be “posted for both of them so they do not languish in custody while their court cases are ongoing”.
Bail was set at RM20,000 for each of them.
As rightly pointed out by Sivaraj, the purpose of bail is not to punish the accused but to ensure their attendance at subsequent court hearings.
Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) says that the bail amount must be fixed with due regard to the circumstances of the case as being sufficient to secure the attendance of the person arrested, but shall not be excessive.
Section 389 also refers to the power of the high court to reduce or increase the amount of bail required by a court. It is a power that is exercisable once an order for bail has been made.
The high court has absolute discretionary powers to vary bail from time of arrest right up to the time of conviction. It may grant bail when bail has been refused. It may reduce the amount of bail if the amount is excessive.
So, if a person should not be kept in custody for a moment longer than is necessary, then recourse should be made to the speedy procedure of Section 389. It is a simple criminal application by way of a notice of motion to a high court judge.
Expediency and speed are the essence of Section 389 of the CPC.
It would be curious that LFL is being sought for crowdfunding purposes but not the high court judge to direct that the bail amount be reduced. – The Vibes, July 16, 2022
Hafiz Hassan reads The Vibes
