Court of Appeal overturns High Court acquittal, health officer ordered to enter defence on seven unnatural sex charges

The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court's decision acquitting Mohd Faris Helmi Ab Rahim of charges under Section 377B of the Penal Code, ruling that a prima facie case has been established.

The court ordered Mohd Faris to enter his defense, citing errors in previous legal proceedings, specifically the misapplication of the standard of proof.

The case has been remitted to the Sessions Court in Pasir Mas, with case management scheduled for October 15, 2026.

Proceedings were led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Noor Farhana Adham, with Siti Syaerah Meor Zulkefli 'Auni representing the respondent.

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 2 — The Court of Appeal yesterday overturned a High Court decision acquitting a health officer of seven charges of having unnatural sex with a woman and ordered him to enter his defence.

A three-member bench chaired by Datuk Noorin Badaruddin allowed the prosecution’s appeal against the Kota Bharu High Court decision on Dec 10, 2025, which upheld the acquittal of Mohd Faris Helmi Ab Rahim, 38, on all seven charges under Section 377B of the Penal Code.

“The High Court’s order upholding the decision of the Sessions Court is set aside. We find that a prima facie case has been established against the respondent (Mohd Faris Helmi) on the charges under Section 377B of the Penal Code. Therefore, the respondent is ordered to enter his defence.

“The case is remitted to the Sessions Court before another judge to enable the respondent to enter his defence in accordance with the law, and the case management date at the Pasir Mas Sessions Court is fixed for Oct 15, 2026,” said Justice Noorin, who sat with Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid.

On April 16, 2024, the Pasir Mas Sessions Court acquitted and discharged Mohd Faris Helmi after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him. The decision was subsequently upheld by the Kota Bharu High Court.

According to the seven charges, the man was alleged to have intentionally had unnatural sex with a 34-year-old woman, who was the owner of a bakery, in a car in front of a religious secondary school in Pasir Mas and at a petrol station in Salor.

The offences were allegedly committed between 5.30pm on July 29, 2019 and 1pm on Sept 18, 2021, under Section 377B of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping upon conviction.

In her grounds of judgment, Justice Noorin said the Sessions Court judge had erred in law by applying the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt at the close of the prosecution’s case.

“By treating the question of consent or lack of consent as an element that the prosecution was required to prove under Section 377B, the Sessions Court judge erred in finding that the evidence of the first prosecution witness (the victim) was insufficient at that stage, when the evidence was not intrinsically incapable of belief, and the matters raised against her were matters that should properly be tested through the respondent’s defence.

“We find that the High Court also failed to correct the error and instead upheld the Sessions Court’s decision. Therefore, there are proper grounds for this court to intervene in the decisions of both courts,” she said.

Justice Noorin said the court found that the victim’s evidence was direct evidence concerning the material acts forming the essence of the charges and was not evidence that was intrinsically incapable of belief.

“A witness’s credibility may be challenged, but that does not mean the evidence is intrinsically incapable of belief.

“Whether the witness’s evidence ultimately withstands proper scrutiny at the conclusion of the entire case is a matter that should be decided after the respondent has been given an opportunity to answer the prosecution’s case,” she said.

The proceedings were conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Noor Farhana Adham, while lawyer Siti Syaerah Meor Zulkefli ‘Auni represented Mohd Faris Helmi as the respondent. — Bernama

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上诉法院推翻了高等法院对 Mohd Faris Helmi Ab Rahim 的判决，该判决免除了他根据《刑法》第 377B 条提出的指控，上诉法院裁定初步证据确凿。

法庭命令莫哈末·法里斯进行辩护，理由是之前的法律程序存在错误，特别是错误地适用了证明标准。

该案已发回巴西马地方法院，案件管理听证会定于 2026 年 10 月 15 日举行。

诉讼程序由副检察官 Noor Farhana Adham 领导，Siti Syaerah Meor Zulkefli 'Auni 代表被告。

布城，10月2日讯——上诉法院昨日推翻了高等法院的判决，该判决宣告一名卫生官员无罪，罪名是与一名女子发生非自然性行为，并命令他进行辩护。

由拿督诺林·巴达鲁丁主持的三人法庭于 2025 年 12 月 10 日批准了控方对哥打巴鲁高等法院判决的上诉，该判决维持了对 38 岁的莫哈末·法里斯·赫尔米·阿卜·拉希姆在《刑法》第 377B 条下所有七项指控的无罪判决。

“高等法院维持地方法院判决的裁定予以撤销。我们认为，根据《刑法》第377B条，针对被告（莫哈末·法里斯·赫尔米）的指控已构成初步证据。因此，责令被告进行辩护。”

“本案已发回地方法院，由另一位法官审理，以便被告能够依法进行辩护。巴西马地方法院的案件管理日期定于 2026 年 10 月 15 日，”与拿督哈亚图尔·阿克马尔·阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹和拿督梅奥尔·哈希米·阿卜杜勒·哈米德一同审理此案的努林法官说道。

2024年4月16日，巴西马地方法庭裁定莫哈末·法里斯·赫尔米无罪释放，理由是控方未能提供初步证据证明其有罪。哥打巴鲁高等法院随后维持了原判。

根据七项指控，该男子被指控在巴西马斯一所宗教中学前的汽车里以及沙洛的一个加油站，故意与一名34岁的面包店老板娘发生非自然性行为。

据称，这些罪行发生在 2019 年 7 月 29 日下午 5 点 30 分至 2021 年 9 月 18 日下午 1 点之间，触犯了《刑法》第 377B 条，该条规定最高可判处 20 年监禁和鞭刑。

努林法官在判决理由中表示，地方法院法官在控方举证完毕后适用排除合理怀疑的证明标准，这是法律上的错误。

“地方法院法官将同意或不同意的问题视为控方根据第 377B 条必须证明的要素，从而错误地认定第一位控方证人（受害者）的证据在当时阶段不足，而该证据本身并非不可信赖，并且针对她提出的指控应该通过被告的辩护进行适当检验。

“我们发现高等法院也未能纠正错误，反而维持了地方法院的判决。因此，本法院有充分的理由干预这两个法院的判决，”她说。

努林法官表示，法院认定受害者的证词是关于构成指控实质内容的实质性行为的直接证据，而不是本质上不可信的证据。

“证人的可信度可能会受到质疑，但这并不意味着证据本身就不可信。

“在整个案件审理结束后，证人的证据是否经得起适当的审查，应该在被告有机会回应控方指控之后再做决定，”她说。

诉讼程序由副检察官 Noor Farhana Adham 主持，律师 Siti Syaerah Meor Zulkefli 'Auni 代表 Mohd Faris Helmi 作为被告。 — 马新社

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