Man who pleads guilty to stalking photographer ordered to enter trial

A 37-year-old man was ordered to enter trial for the charge of repeatedly stalking and harassing photographer Acacia Mardiana Daud.

Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu this afternoon said the case must be brought to a full trial despite Mohamad Safiq Rosli’s guilty plea last Friday (Dec 15).

Sasha said the court cannot accept the accused’s guilty plea after taking into consideration a psychiatric report from Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak that verified Safiq was mentally unstable or “insane” during the time he committed the offence.

She fixed Jan 17 for the one-day trial, when she will also deliver her sentencing.

Three prosecution witnesses will be called to testify, including the 31-year-old victim via online proceedings.

The magistrate’s ruling came after several turns of events during the proceedings, which started at approximately 9.55am and ended at about 2.30pm, with several adjournments in between.

Medical vs legal insanity

The proceedings began with mitigation submissions from deputy public prosecutor Zilfinaz Abbas and defence lawyer Fithril Hakim Ab Jalil.

Zilfinaz told the court that it did not want Safiq’s admission of guilt to enable him to use the insanity defence under Section 347 of the Criminal Procedure Code to escape imprisonment and fine.

She said Safiq’s guilty plea was conditional, citing the accused’s psychiatric report that proved he was mentally unstable or “insane” during the time of the offence.

However, she said the report does not fulfil the insanity defence as accorded under Section 84 of the Penal Code.

Therefore, she submitted that Safiq must fulfil both medical insanity and legal insanity tests for such a defence to be used in his guilty plea.

“The medical report had only fulfilled the medical test of insanity. The legal test of insanity has remained unanswered.

“The only way to prove the accused’s legal test of insanity is by way of a full trial,” she said.

Jail vs mental institution

However, Fithril said there would be no reform for his client if he remained in jail.

He then pleaded for the court to invoke sections 347 and 348 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Section 347 concerns acquittal on grounds of mental disorder while Section 348 is on detaining the accused at a mental institution so long as allowed by the state ruler.

Fithril then revealed that Safiq, his family, and even Acacia wanted the accused to be institutionalised.

“This is not an attempt to let go of his culpability. The accused is within his rights to just plead guilty, serve his sentence, and go.

“However, under Section 347, the accused would be acquitted and sent to a mental institution to be treated for his medical state,” the lawyer added.

Insanity plea

When the proceedings resumed after a brief adjournment, Sasha rejected Safiq’s guilty plea for the first time and ordered him to enter trial after hearing Zilfinaz’s submission.

However, Fithril said his client unequivocally pleaded guilty and was ready to be sentenced.

“We are not pleading for insanity,” he said.

The court was then adjourned again for the magistrate to decide on the sentencing.

However, when the proceedings resumed, Fithril made a U-turn and said his client would like his guilty plea to remain with the reason of insanity.

“This is after I discussed it with my client and his family. We will continue with the trial,” the lawyer said.

Meanwhile, lawyer Jason Wee held a watching brief for Acacia.

Case background

On Aug 10, Safiq, who is a freelance designer, was charged with stalking photographer Acacia by repeatedly harassing the latter on X.

On the same day, Bernama reported that the court allowed the prosecution’s request to refer Safiq to the Forensic Psychiatric Unit of Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta for observation.

Safiq was the first person to be charged with the offence under Section 507A(1) of the Penal Code. He claimed trial at that time.

FMT reported that Safiq had been in custody since August.

However, the accused changed his plea to guilty last Friday (Dec 15) and admitted to stalking Acacia by repeatedly harassing the latter through three communications on his X account in July.

According to Bernama, he was alleged to have committed the offences between 1.40am on July 15 and 5.58pm on July 21 despite knowing the acts were likely to cause distress, fear, or alarm to Acacia.

The case went viral when Acacia took to X in July to share her harrowing experience and details of the alleged harassment from Safiq, which she said began in 2016.

She claimed Safiq also sent lewd photographs of himself.

The accused allegedly trailed Acacia to various locations such as a fast food restaurant and even to her house.

He also allegedly stalked the victim by following her to the United Kingdom.

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