Peter Anthony's forgery appeal verdict postponed to next year

The court verdict of ex-Sabah minister Peter Anthony’s last-ditch appeal in a forged document case has been postponed to Jan 9 next year.

The Court of Appeal was supposed to decide on his appeal over his conviction as well as a three-year jail sentence and RM50,000 fine.

In a media notification this afternoon, a Palace of Justice official announced that the verdict initially set for Wednesday this week has been deferred to next year.

However, no explanation was given for the postponement of the decision in the former Sabah infrastructure and development minister’s appeal.

The case involves an alleged forged letter from the Universiti Malaysia Sabah deputy vice-chancellor’s office linked to a system maintenance contract in 2014.

The Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat president was found guilty of forging the letter dated June 9, 2014, at the office of the principal private secretary to the prime minister at the Perdana Putra building, Putrajaya, between June 13 and Aug 21, 2014.

In 2020, before the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, he claimed trial to the charge under Section 468 of the Penal Code, which provides a maximum seven-year jail term and a fine.

Losing elected rep status

The trial court two years ago convicted him and imposed a three-year jail term and RM50,000 fine.

While he paid the fine, he obtained a stay of execution on the jail term pending the disposal of his appeal.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court last year upheld his guilty verdict and sentencing.

Peter risks losing his Melalap state seat if the appellate court upholds his conviction.

Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution disqualifies a parliamentarian or assemblyperson found guilty in a criminal case and sentenced to two years in jail or fined more than RM2,000.

The prosecution called 15 witnesses to testify against Peter, including former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, former treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, and former chief justice Zaki Azmi.

Peter was among three witnesses who took the stand for his defence.

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