KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — The Sessions Court has issued an arrest warrant for a woman after she failed to appear in court to face charges in connection with a case of initiating false communication against a member of the royal family.
The order was issued by Judge Norma Ismail after allowing the application by Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Amir Hanif Ahijman to issue an arrest warrant against Persana Avril Sollunda, 43.
Earlier, Amir Hanif said the investigating officer informed him that Persana, who resides in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, was supposed to be charged today but did not appear in court.
"Previously, the investigating officer had applied for a court summons from the Magistrate's Court here to order Persana Avril to appear to face the charges against her, and she (Persana Avril) herself had signed the summons on April 29.
"However, given that she did not appear in court today, the prosecution requests that an arrest warrant be issued against her," he said,
Norma then set June 19 for mention of the arrest warrant against the accused.
It is understood that she will face charges under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for allegedly uploading a fake marriage certificate with the intent to annoy others.
Persana was accused of committing the act on a TikTok account in February of this year.
In March last year, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kota Kinabalu district police headquarters detained her for questioning, before subsequently releasing her.
— Bernama
