SHAH ALAM: The sentencing of the first man to be charged under the new anti-stalking law has had to be postponed after the authorities failed to bring him to court today.
Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu, obviously displeased with the oversight, said she regretted that the verdict in the case could not be delivered today.
She said should would the case up tomorrow for sentencing, and thanked both the prosecution and defence counsel for turning up.
Sasha Diana said the failure to produce the accused, Mohamad Safiq Rosli, under the Order to Produce application in court, was an oversight.
"I will call this case again tomorrow (for the verdict)," she said.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Zilfinaz Abbas told the court that the accused was not brought to court from prison.
"According to the interpreter, Safiq can be brought (to the court) tomorrow morning.
"We apply for the proceedings to be postponed for the facts of the case to be read and the verdict," he said.
Also present was defence counsel Fithril Hakim Ab Jalil and lawyer Jason Wee, who is holding a watching brief for the victim.
On Friday, 37-year-old part-time events consultant Safiq pleaded guilty to a charge of stalking photographer Acacia Mardiana Daud, 31, by sending communications and harassing her repeatedly on X, the application formerly known as Twitter.
He had been the first person to be charged with the offence under Section 507A(1) of the Penal Code in August, but at that point in time had claimed trial.
Sasha Diana had accepted the accused's guilty plea after obtaining a medical report which stated that Safiq was fit for trial and also fit to plead.
According to the charge, Safiq had used the X account under the handle @sopert99 and had repeatedly harrassed Acacia through three communications on her X account named @ShaFoShizzle which she had read in a house in Shah Alam.
He was alleged to have committed the offence knowing that it would cause fear in the victim, between 1.40am on July 15 and 5.58pm on July 21.
If found guilty, he faces jail up to three years or with a fine or both.
It was reported that police confirmed receiving report of online sexual harassment faced by the victim in 2018.
Through an Instagram post, the victim had shared her experience of being occasionally sexually harassed by a person named Shafiq Rosli, including exposing the lewd messages he had sent her.
She claimed to have frequently received obscene messages and videos which showed the accused acting indecently.
The accused was believed to have started harassing the victim since 2016 by leaving comments on her blog.
He was said to begun stalking the victim since 2017 and had followed her to a fast food restaurant and even to her house.
He had even followed her to the United Kingdom at one point in time.