In Johor, two company directors plead not guilty to charges of using unrecognised halal logo
JOHOR BARU, Dec 30 — A company that supplies frozen meat, and two of its directors allegedly involved in the halal logo scandal were charged in the Sessions Court here today with two charges of using unrecognised halal logos on its lorries.
The accused Rahman Sheik Abdullah, 44, and his wife Raihanah Kasim, 42, however, pleaded not guilty before Judge Mohamad Haidar Abdul Aziz.
According to the first charge, the company, Raihanah Cold Storage Sdn Bhd, had allegedly used a non-certified halal logo on an Isuzu truck.
The Johor Baru-based company is accused of committing the act at its business premises located at Setia Business Park here at 1pm on December 1.
The offence is under Paragraph 8 (a) of the Trade Descriptions (halal certification and marking) Order 2011 which is punishable under Paragraph 8 (A) of the same order.
If convicted, the company can be fined a maximum of RM200,000 and for the second and subsequent offences, up to RM500,000.
For the second charge, Rahman and Raihanah, acting as directors of Raihanah Enterprise, were charged with committing the same offence on a Mitsubishi truck at the same location and time.
The offence is under Paragraph 8 (a) of the Trade Descriptions (halal certification and marking) Order 2011 which is punishable under Paragraph 8 (B) of the same order and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, the accused can be fined a maximum of RM100,000 or jailed for up to three years or both and for the second and subsequent offences, fined up to RM200,000 or jailed for a maximum of five years.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor T. Ashivinii asked the court to impose a high bail of RM50,000 because the halal logo case had received widespread media coverage and the issue was discussed in Parliament.
However, the two counsel representing the directors, Lau Kok Guan and Noor Liana Hashim, appealed for the figure to be reduced as the company is still in operations and has 20 employees.
The court then allowed the couple to be bailed at RM40,000 each with one surety pending mention of the case on January 19 next year.
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