‘Prosecution failed to prove case’

The Star: Wednesday June 4, 2008

KOTA BARU:

Quick chat: Nik Sapeia and his wife waiting outside the magistrate’s court in Kota Baru yesterday. — Bernama

The different versions by witnesses undermines the prosecution’s effort to prove beyond reasonable doubt that marine tycoon Datuk Nik Sapeia Nik Yusof was the person who sprayed a dangerous substance towards former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the latter’s visit here on June 28, 2006.

Submitting this after the close of the prosecution's case, defence counsel Zainal Abidin Mustaffa argued that this raised doubts as to whether it was indeed Nik Sapeia who had committed the act.

Zainal Abidin urged the court to take into consideration that nobody, including the four victims, had suffered injuries, except for momentary discomfort.

Nik Sapeia, a former state Umno treasurer and now PPP deputy president, was charged with spraying a dangerous substance at Dr Mahathir and three others – Pasir Mas MP Datuk Paduka Ibrahim Ali, the former premier’s physician Dr Mohd Nasir Muda and Suberi Sahidan – at the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Pengkalan Chepa at about 11am.