I have been observing, monitoring, studying, researching on crimes in Brunei for years now. A number of times, I would encounter accounts on crime cases that made me fall off my chair, especially ones that are bizarre and unheard of or those that happen in the country for the first time. Well, this case is one of them, that made my jaw dropped to the floor (still is). Despite nearly two weeks now after the headline came out, I still can’t get over how bizarre and outrageous it is. The wider public may be oblivious, but to me, there are so many things off about this, on so many levels.

Do a google search on “mengaku bersalah kerana bergaduh” you will just find articles about this particular case. Why? Because in my years of looking at crime in the country, I have never come across somebody being charged in court for fighting. Oh wait….maybe there have…..no, that was during my secondary school years when two boys were called to see the discipline teacher and got suspended for throwing punches at each other.

Well…yeah, fighting could be the cause of a criminal offence, such as [a] Section 159 – Affray (When 2 or more person by fighting in a public place disturb the public peace, they are said to “commit an affray”), punishable with imprisonment and with fine. [b] Section 503 – Criminal Intimidation, punishable with imprisonment, or with fine, or with both. [c] Section 506 – Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, punishable with imprisonment and with fine. Fighting could also lead to murder – causing bodily injury leading to death. But, people don’t get in legal trouble for just fighting.

Ok, for the sake of argument, lets just say that there is a charge of fighting, and a defendant is pleading guilty of fighting – wouldn’t that mean that the person he was fighting with should also be charged with fighting and guilty of fighting too? Despite the word fighting appearing five times in a sentence, this is a valid rhetorical question. 

We don’t need to be a genius to know that the act of fighting involves exchanging physical or verbal blows, and in the era of internet and social media, would also include exchanging mean online comments. See there, the keyword is “exchanging”. In the case of this Lance Corporal Amzar, the crime that he committed did not involve any “exchanging” of anything – he came to the victim’s home uninvited, beat the crap out of the victim unprovoked, put the victim on a chokehold, flailing him around like a rag doll, rendering the victim unable to do any “exchanging” of anything. This is not hearsay, it was an act caught on CCTV recording. So, for those who have seen the CCTV recording (they know who they are), did Lance Corporal Amzar commit a “fighting” or an assault?? 

For someone who is well aware about the circumstances of this case, who have watched the CCTV recording and appalled by it, I was completely disgusted to find out when reading the news article that Lance Corporal Amzar “mengaku bersalah kerana bergaduh” – “pleaded guilty to fighting”.  Again, for those who have seen the CCTV recording (again, they know who they are), don’t you see how outrageous that sounds??

More on this here – Truth, No Just-Ease

….