Hearing of guilty-plea bargain application to be fixed today

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PUTRAJAYA: The hearing of an application for a guilty-plea bargain by a woman who allegedly ran amok with a man armed with a samurai sword in front of the prime minister’s office in July last year will be decided today.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nadia Mohd Izhar told the Sessions Court here that the negotiation was still at the discussion stage.

The trial which was to have commenced yesterday before Judge Mohamed Kamil Nizam had to be postponed as Muhdalena Ahmad’s counsel M Visvanathan was ill; the case was also postponed on Monday for the same reason. A total of 39 witnesses would be called to give their testimonies.

Muhdalena, 28, from Kota Damansara, was charged on July 16 last year at Putrajaya Hospital ward while undergoing treatment after being shot in her right thigh.

She is accused of criminal intimidation with intent to cause grievous hurt to an auxiliary police personnel, Lance Corporal Ridzuan Megat Ahmad in the vicinity of Complex B of the Prime Minister’s Department at 2.30pm on July 9, 2012.

The charge under Section 506 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

Muhdalena, a graduate of Islamic International University, Malaysia, has also been charged with possession of a weapon (sword) at the same place and time. The charge under Section 7(1) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958, carries a jail term of up to two years and a maximum fine of RM2,000, or both, upon conviction.

She is facing two other charges, under the Restricted Area and Prohibited Places Act 1959.

On the first count, she is alleged to have disobeyed L/C Ridzuan’s orders to put down the sword and on the second, for failing to abide by a minister’s order to obtain a pass or permit before entering the premises.

Muhdalena was freed on RM11,500 bail in one surety pending trial. — Bernama