KUANTAN: Former Temerloh District Police Chief Mohd Azhar Mohd Yusoff, 56, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty of 46 charges of accepting bribes totalling RM69,600 between 2019 and 2023.
Sessions Court judge Sazlina Safie handed down the sentence after ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court imposed eight months’ imprisonment for each charge but ordered all sentences to run concurrently from the date of conviction.
Sazlina said the prosecution had successfully established all the elements of the offences under Section 165 of the Penal Code for all 46 charges.
Mohd Azhar was accused of receiving sums ranging from RM100 to RM5,600 from four individuals through online money transfers in exchange for protecting them from action by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) over various offences.
He was charged on Sept 7, 2023, and pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
In June, the court ordered Mohd Azhar to enter his defence after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case based on the testimony of 20 prosecution witnesses.
During mitigation, defence lawyer M Athimulan urged the court to impose a fine instead of imprisonment on his client.
However, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohd Radzi Shah Abd Razak and Dr Ifa Sirrhu Shamsuddin, sought a heavier sentence, including imprisonment and the maximum fine.
The court also granted a stay of execution of the prison sentence pending the outcome of Mohd Azhar’s appeal at the High Court.
Mohd Azhar was represented by lawyers Datuk Bob Arumugam and M Athimulan.
-AWANI
