The Court of Appeal on Monday deferred the hearing of the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, a former aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, because the prosecution has yet to personally serve Yusoff with the notice of appeal as required by law [1, 2, 3].
Yusoff Rawther was acquitted by the High Court on June 12, 2025, of charges including trafficking 305 grams of cannabis and possession of two imitation pistols arising from incidents in September 2024. The court discharged him without calling for his defence to be heard [1, 2, 3].
Since filing the appeal last year, the prosecution has tried to locate and serve Yusoff personally but was unsuccessful because he left Malaysia around June 2025 and is currently believed to be in the United Kingdom, where he has applied for asylum on humanitarian and human rights grounds [1, 2, 3]. Yusoff’s defence counsel has said he does not intend to return to Malaysia and has informed the prosecution of his asylum status [1, 3].
Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah reiterated that under Section 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code, personal service of the appeal notice on the respondent is mandatory. "The court is fixing a new date for service to be made and to determine thereafter whether the appeal hearing can proceed," he said [2, 3].
The Court of Appeal has granted the prosecution an additional three months to attempt to serve Yusoff personally. A case mention is scheduled for September 8, 2026, to update the court on the status of service and decide how to proceed [1, 2, 3].
