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 English or Bahasa Malaysia.
The postponement allows 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 appeared confused when asked whether he understood either language before the charges were read by interpreter Hidayah Chan.
"The case will be mentioned again on Dec 5. No bail has been offered,” said Muhammad Bukhori.
The defendant was arrested on Monday (Nov 11) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Terminal 1 around 4pm 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. - Bernama
