JOHOR BAHRU (March 19): An elderly man who went viral for slapping a non-Muslim youth in an incident at a convenience store was recharged at the Magistrate’s Court here on Wednesday for voluntarily causing hurt.

Abdul Razak Ismail, 65, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out to him before Magistrate A Shaarmini.

Deputy public prosecutor Nor Afiqah Musa informed the court that the prosecution had received new instructions from the state prosecution director to proceed with the charge against the accused due to a technical issue that arose Wednesday morning.

According to the amended charge, Abdul Razak is accused of voluntarily causing hurt to Elijah Ling Zhao Zhong, 22, at the convenience store here at 6.15pm on Sunday.

The charge, under Section 323 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum one-year jail term or a RM2,000 fine or both.

Nor Afiqah proposed bail of RM8,000. However, Abdul Razak’s lawyer Mohd Salleh Togimin asked for a lower amount, saying that his client is a retired civil servant supporting a wife and three children.

The court allowed bail of RM2,000 in one surety and set April 29 for mention and document submission.

During the proceedings this morning, Abdul Razak was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) from the charge of voluntarily causing hurt to Ling.

Shaarmini made the ruling after the court was informed of the latest instruction for the prosecution to classify the case as DNAA and to refer it to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) in Putrajaya.

The AGC later said that the request for the DNAA order was made due to a technical issue with the charge filed against him this morning.

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Senior citizen who slapped non-Muslim will be re-charged this afternoon, says AG

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