SEPANG: The arraignment of a Syrian national involved in a British passport forgery case was postponed to Dec 5 after the 31-year-old defendant was unable to understand Bahasa Malaysia or English.
The postponement allows for an Arabic-speaking interpreter to be present at the Magistrate’s Court to translate the charges against him.
Earlier, Magistrate Muhammad Bukhori Md Ruslan set the date after the defendant, Maher Al-Ali, appeared confused when asked whether he understood either language before the charges were read by interpreter Hidayah Chan.
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“The case will be mentioned again on Dec 5. No bail has been offered,” said Muhammad Bukhori.
Maher was arrested on Nov 11 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Terminal 1 around 4 pm after reportedly being stranded in the H2 gate area for a flight to London.
He is being investigated under Section 12 (1) (a) of the Passports Act 1966 after a police check with the British High Commission revealed that the travel document in his possession was a forgery.
Deputy public prosecutor Nur’Ain Madihah Zulkifli appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented.
