JOHOR BARU: Four men pleaded not guilty at the magistrate's court here today to a charge of assault or using criminal force with the intention to dishonour Youth and Sport Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abd Rahman at an event in Ulu Tiram last month.
Norhanizam Ithnain, Mohd Iskandar Masindra Rasidi, Mohd Iskandar Afiq Abd Razak and Ezzul Emran Abdul Rahim made the plea in front of Magistrate Mohd Zaki Abd Rahman after the charge was read out to them.
The four were accused of assaulting Syed Saddiq at Savannah Hill Resort in Ulu Tiram here at about 9.30pm on January 31.
They were charged under Section 355 of the Penal Code which is read together with Section 34 of the same Code.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Faizal Noorhadi, Muhammad Syafiq Mohd Ghazali and Chan Choon Yew appeared for the prosecution while the four accused were represented by counsel Izzat Muhtar.
Also present were counsel Shufri Samad, who was holding a watching brief for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
The prosecution asked for bail to be set at RM15,000 each but in mitigation, Izzat asked for a lower bail of RM5,000 as his clients have been cooperating with the police during the investigation.
Zaki set bail at RM7,000 with one surety each and ordered the accused to report at the Seri Alam police headquarters every month.
He set March 15 for mention of the case.
In was reported that in the incident, Syed Saddiq, who is Bersatu Armada chief, was forced to flee the scene of the incident by climbing over a fence after a group of some 200 people suddenly appeared at the resort where a gathering of Johor Bersatu member was being held.