The Seremban Sessions Court today sentenced Lenggeng assemblyperson Mustafa Salim to three years jail and fined him RM20,000, in default 12 months jail, after finding him guilty of accepting a bribe from a contractor two years ago.

Judge Amran Jantan ordered Mustafa, 52, to post bail of RM10,000 with the court on Monday. Mustafa is to file notice of appeal to the High Court on Monday.

According to Bernama, the judge had earlier dismissed an application by Mustafa's lawyers to impose a lenient sentence of a good behaviour bond.

NONE"The primary factor in the case is public interest. The offence is a serious one because it was committed by someone holding a position.

"It will be improper for the accused to be released because it will give the impression that the court is not serious," he said.

Mustafa was charged under Section 10(a)(aa) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 for having accepted from one M Manimaran RM2,000 as an inducement to issue a support letter relating to a sand-related project at a restaurant in Taman Bunga Raya 2, Mantin, on Aug 31, 2008.

Earlier, the court had freed Mustafa of two other charges of demanding bribes of RM2,000 and RM3,000 from Manimaran through middlemen at Lot 1321, Mukim Pantai, on Aug 28, 2008, as well as at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Jalan Dato’ Kelana Makmur on Aug 30, 2008, respectively.

DPP Feza Fazlin Fandi of the Negeri Sembilan MACC conducted the prosecution while Mustafa while represented by counsel Feisal Mustapha and Datuk Taqiyuddin Yahya.

No by-election

However, it is unlikely that another by-election be called - the 17th since 2008 general elections - as Mustafa can appeal against the sentence in the higher courts.

In any case, the first meeting of the Negeri Sembilan assembly was on March 27, 2008 - meaning that its state representatives have served more than two-thirds of their terms.

With this, the Election Commission has the option to defer the by-election until the next general election.