Jawi and 22 Others Appeal RM160,000 Damage Award to Siti Kasim

The Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) and 22 other respondents have appealed a High Court judgment that ordered them to compensate lawyer-activist Siti Kasim RM160,000 for a 2016 arrest. Senior Federal Counsel Ng Siew Wee contended that the officers’ error was an honest mistake of law, not an abuse of power, and that there was insufficient evidence of malicious prosecution. The defence also criticised the trial judge’s reliance on earlier criminal records and witness testimony.

Siti Kasim’s counsel, A. Saha Deva, argued the officers proceeded with the raid despite lacking legal authority, satisfying the mens rea requirement for misfeasance. A three-judge panel, chaired by Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, scheduled a case-management hearing for November 5 to set a decision date. The original civil suit, filed in September 2019, alleged false imprisonment, misfeasance in public office and violation of personal liberty rights.