SHAH ALAM: The High Court has upheld the prison sentence of police officer Sergeant Mohd Faridzuddin Hamzah, who was found guilty of accepting a RM1,000 bribe three years ago.
Judge Datuk Ghazali Cha made the decision after rejecting Faridzuddin’s appeal against the sentence, which was handed down by the Sessions Court in July last year.
However, the court allowed the application by Faridzuddin’s counsel, Salim Bashir, to postpone the sentencing while awaiting a decision from the Court of Appeal.
Salim had earlier applied for the postponement, saying he would put forward several legal issues to the Court of Appeal.
Ghazali allowed the postponement on condition that a notice of appeal must be filed today and the bail to be increased to RM25,000.
In his judgement, Ghazali said the Sessions Court judge had made the right decision and that he was satisfied with it.
The Sessions Court had, on July 20 last year, sentenced Faridzuddin to eight years’ imprisonment and a RM20,000 fine after he was convicted of two charges of accepting a RM1,000 bribe as an inducement to settle a drug case three years ago.
Faridzuddin was accused of committing the offence while on duty at the Serdang district police headquarters’ Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department, where he had accepted a RM500 bribe at 8.15pm on March 5, 2014.
He was also accused of accepting another RM500 bribe at a restaurant in Sri Petaling on April 1 the same year.
He was charged under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
He was sentenced under Section 24 of the same Act which, carries an imprisonment of not more than 20 years and a fine up to five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.