The founder of KK Mart, Chai Kee Kan and his wife, Loh Siew Mui, who are facing two charges of hurting the feelings of Muslims in the issue related to the sale of socks which carried the word Allah on them, will submit representations to the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Lawyer Rajpal Singh, who represents Chai, 57, and Loh, 53, informed the court that his party will file the representation after examining the documents obtained from the prosecution today.
“We request that a mention date be fixed because the defense will file a representation,” he said when the case was mentioned before Sessions Court Judge Muhamad Anas Mahadzir.
On March 26, Chai and Loh pleaded not guilty to the charge of intentionally intending to hurt the feelings of Muslims by displaying socks with the word Allah on the sales display rack that had been seen by a 32-year-old man.
They were charged with committing the offense at the KK Mart Bandar Sunway branch at 6.30am last March 13, according to Section 298 of the Penal Code which can lead to a prison sentence of up to a year or a fine or both, if convicted.
Chai who also represents his company KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd was also charged with the same charge.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Khairul Azreem Mamat said the prosecution would hand over the documents related to the case to the defense today, in addition to requesting that the case faced by the couple be tried together with the case involving the director of the distribution company Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd.
“The prosecution requested that these cases be tried together in accordance with Section 170 of the Criminal Procedure Code and I believe the defense did not object. The prosecution also requested that the trial date be set,” he said, and the defense later confirmed the matter.
Also present in today’s proceedings was lawyer Lau Yi Leong who represented husband and wife Soh Chin Huat and Goh Li Huay and their daughter Soh Hui San, who is a director of distributor company Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd. Soh, 61, and Goh, 62, and their daughter Hui San, 36, were charged with conspiring to hurt the feelings of Muslims in the issue of socks with the word Allah written on them at the same place, time and date. Soh who also represented his company Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd was also charged with the same charge.
All of them were charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code read with Section 298 of the same code which provides for a maximum prison sentence of one year or a fine or both, if convicted.
The court fixed June 10 for case management to find out the status of the representation.
When met by the media outside the court, Rajpal said that his side would send a representation in the near future, but had not yet decided whether it would be to withdraw (the charge) or there would be an optional charge.
