KEMAMAN: A 32-year-old medical officer pleaded not guilty in the Kemaman Sessions Court today to six charges of committing sexual abuse and producing pornography involving six children.
Dr Anas Ramli made the plea after the charges were read before Judge Wan Suhaila Mohd.
The accused, from Chukai, Kemaman, was charged with five counts of producing pornographic images involving five children aged between seven and 11 while on duty at the Kemaman Hospital.
He is accused of committing the offences in the same ward between December 2022 and February 2023.
For these charges, he is charged under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (SOAC) together with Section 16(1) of the same act.
Dr Anas was also charged with committing physical sexual abuse against a 12-year-old victim in a treatment room at the hospital between 5.45pm and 6.40pm on Feb 8, 2023.
The accused is charged under Section 14(a) of the SOAC 2017 and Section 16(1) of the same act.
Wan Suhaila ordered the accused to be released on bail of RM30,000 with one surety.
She also directed the accused to surrender his passport to the court and report to the nearest police station every first day of the month.
The prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Syairah Mohamad Razali, while the accused was represented by lawyer Faizal Rahman.
Meanwhile, in the magistrate's court, Dr Anas pleaded not guilty to charges of possessing obscene images stored on his mobile phone on Nov 1, 2022, between 7.30am and 10am at the Kemaman Hospital operation theatre.
The accused, charged under Section 292 of the Penal Code, faces imprisonment for up to three years and a fine or both if convicted.
For this charge, Magistrate Sharifah Amirda Shasha allowed the accused to be released on bail of RM3,500 with one surety and imposed the condition that he is not allowed to disturb or approach witnesses throughout the proceedings.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Azhani Azman prosecuted, and the court set March 21 as the next mention date for document submission.