Australian Dominic Jude Bird was freed on bail but his wish to return home was denied after the Court of Appeal (COA) ordered him to surrender his passport pending prosecution appeal against his acquittal on a drug trafficking charge by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Sept 4.

A three-man panel headed by Justice Azhar Mohamad, in a unanimous decision, granted the Perth-born businessman RM50,000 bail with two sureties.

Justice Azhar also ordered Bird, 34, to report to the nearest police station at 5pm every Monday pending the appeal.

He is also required to disclose his address while he is on bail.

Justice Azhar said the court also unanimously asserted that Section 56A of the Courts Judicature Act (CJA) 1964 is constitutional.

“We disagreed with counsel’s (Muhammad Shafee Abdullah) argument that Section 56A violates liberty and equality of his client under Articles 5 and 8 of the federal constitution,” ruled Azhar.

The two other panel members were Dr Hamid Sultan Backer and Mokhtaruddin Baki.

Section 56A of the Act allows the prosecution to seek a remand order from the COA pending disposal of the appeal.

The panel in its decision said they agreed with the argument forwarded by prosecution that the integrity of the prosecution appeal by ensuring the present of the respondent who is a foreigner with a valid travel document.

Shafee promptly requested the court to set an early date for the appeal to be heard.

Justice Azhar told Shafee to write in the application to COA president.

On Sept 4, Bird was acquitted and discharged by the Kuala Lumpur High Court after ruling that the defence had succeeded in raising a reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case on the charge of trafficking methamphetamine weighing 167.8g at a coffee outlet in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng in Kuala Lumpur on March 1 last year.

However, the Australian was detained by immigration officers on the same day as his visa had expired.

The prosecution team were represented by head of the Appeals Unit of the Attorney-General’s Chambers Saiful Edris Zainuddin and deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Bache.

- Bernama