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Shafee fails to set aside decision over misconduct BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Court - New 2 Sarawak

Shafee fails to set aside decision over misconduct

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:45 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Prominent lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah yesterday failed in his bid to set aside a decision by the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board which had fined him for misconduct in his profession.

High Court judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof dismissed Muhammad Shafee's appeal after ruling that the court should not interfere with the board's decision stemming from his interview with a media organisation.

Justice Zaleha said the court agreed with the respondent (Bar Council) that the articles did contain laudatory remarks and statements about the appellant and his firm which were beyond the scope or approved information allowed by the Legal Profession Act.

"I think what matters here is what was the opinion of the Bar Council provided under Rule 15(1)(b) of the Legal Profession Publicity Rules 2001.

"I don't think that the court should interfere with the decision of the Bar Council. Thus, I dismiss the appeal with no order as to costs," she said.

Muhammad Shafee filed an appeal against the board's decision on Oct 5, 2012 which found that he had breached Section 94(3)(k) of the Legal Profession Act and ordered him to pay RM5,000 to the Discipline Fund.

In his originating summons filed on Nov 16, 2012, Muhammad Shafee claimed that the board had fined him RM5,000 following a complaint by then Bar Council president K Ragunath on Sept 23, 2010 that the former had publicised himself and his firm during an interview with The Star.

The two articles titled 'Counsel rests his case' and 'Keeping within the letter of the law' were published on Sept 27, 2009. The findings of the disciplinary committee were that Muhammad Shafee had publicised himself and his firm of solicitors in a manner that infringed the Legal Profession Publicity Rules 2001.

Muhammad Shafee was represented by Counsel Sarah Abishegam while the Bar Council was represented by Counsel Tan Sheong Leong. — Bernama

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First firefight 300m from Kg Tanduo – commando

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:29 AM PST

by Suraini Andokong. Posted on January 11, 2014, Saturday

KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here yesterday heard that the first close recce or exchange of fire between the Malaysian commandos and the gunmen in Kampung Tanduo occurred after the commandos were fired at about 300 meters from Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu.

Vat 69 commando Mancha Ak Ata, 48, told Justice Stephen Chung that they only received instruction that close recce would be carried out on March 1, 2013.

Under cross examination by counsel Datuk N Sivananthan, who represented 27 accused persons out of the 30 people charged with committing terrorism acts, Mancha said on February 28, 2013, they went to their base camp according to their respective sectors.

"I and my team did not do any close recce at that time; we only traveled from the tactical premises and Felda Sahabat and the close recce only commenced on March 1, 2013 at about 7am," he testified, adding that 34 personnel were involved in the close recce operation.

He agreed with a suggestion by counsel that from February 22, 2013 where he was briefed about the intrusion up to February 28, 2013 the day they went to their base camps, there was no close recce done at the area where the armed men were holed up.

"Based on my knowledge on why there was no close recce done, this was because it was still in a negotiation period," said Mancha.

To another question by Sivananthan, the witness agreed that the sectors which were divided into five were designated to entirely surround the armed men's location.

"I know where the location of the armed men were through the photographs shown by Datuk Rashid Harun, and when I went to the ground with my team I knew where the armed men's location was," said Macha at an on-going trial at a hall used as an open court at Central Prisons in Kepayan here, which was under tight security.

To another question from Sivananthan, Mancha testified that after the gun fight between them and the armed men, he decided not to pursue the enemies as he was worried that his team would be ambushed.

"In my assessment, if we pursued them, there was a possibility to be attacked by the armed men," Mancha explained.

Meanwhile, during cross examination by counsel Ram Singh for Mohd Ali Ahmad, he said they had yet to gather enough information in respect of the information of the location of the armed men.

"It was because it should be carried out in tactical way," he said.

The accused persons, including Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, the nephew of the late self-styled Sulu Sultanate III Datu Jamalul Kiram, were charged separately with waging war against the Yang di – Pertuan Agong, being a member of a terrorist group, harbouring persons knowing that they were members of a terrorist group and recruiting other persons to be a member of a terrorist group, allegedly committed between February 12, 2013 and April 4, 2013 at several places in Lahad Datu.

The charges were leveled under the Penal Code which carry the death sentence while the rest provided for life imprisonment and a fine, upon conviction.

The prosecution was led by Attorney General of Chambers Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail with his team deputy public prosecutors Abdul Wahab Mohamed, Ishak Mad Yussoff, Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Cheng Kher Her and Anati Kisahi while other counsels involved were Kamaruddin Mohd Chinki, YS Lo, James Tsai, Stella Simon, Zaleha Mohd Yusof Pan, Majnah Abdillah, Abdul Ghani Zelika and Zakaria Ahmad.

The trial continues on January 15.

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Man jailed for outraging modesty of 6-year old

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:27 AM PST

by Christy Chok. Posted on January 11, 2014, Saturday

TAWAU: The Magistrate's Court here yesterday sentenced a 30-year-old man to two years' jail and ordered that he be referred to the Immigration Department for outraging the modesty of a six-year-old girl at a house.

Mohamad Sofiyan Bin Abd Wahab pleaded guilty before magistrate Ferhansha Farene Mohd Ferdaus to a charge under Section 354 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term up to 10 years or fine or whipping or any two of the tribulations, if convicted.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Ahmad Hafizul told the court that the accused had committed the offence in a bedroom of a house at Lorong Habib Abdul Rahman, Batu 2, Apas Road here at about 11am on December 21, 2013. He had used criminal force with the intention of outraging the modesty of the victim.

The police report revealed that the victim is the accused's cousin who had gone to the ground floor of his house that day. The accused ordered her to enter his room to play games on his mobile phone.

He then took off the victim's trousers and underwear, and attempted to insert his finger and penis into the victim's vagina.

The accused then put on the victim's underwear as well as trousers and ordered her to leave the room.

When the victim told her mother that she had been raped by the accused, her mother immediately examined her daughter's private parts and found that it was swollen and there was some semen on her underwear.

Her mother then brought the victim to the district hospital for examination and then lodged a police report.

However, the medical examination showed that there was no tear or injury on her private parts.

The accused was detained by the police at Kg Saddani, Apas Road, Batu 2, at about 9.30pm on December 26, 2013.

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VAT69 team yet to gather info on intruders when attacked, court told

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:32 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: One of five VAT69 police teams positioned at designated areas to cordon off Kampung Tanduo had yet to gather sufficient information on the Sulu intruders when it was attacked on March 1, last year.

"At that time (shootout), we had yet to gather enough information on the location of the armed intruders because it (information gathering) should be carried out by tactical ways," Superintendent Mancha Laga told the High Court which convened at the Sabah Prisons Department here yesterday.

He was testifying in the trial of 30 people charged with various offences related to terrorism activities in Sabah last year.

During cross-examination by lawyer Ram Singh, Mancha said part of his duties in the close reconnaissance operation at the village was to assess the strength of the intruders, the location of their strongholds and their sentries.

When Ram asked what the intruders meant by the words, "Tiger! Keluar kau dari sini. Ini bumi kami" ("Tiger! Get out of here. This is our land!") upon encountering the VAT69 team, Mancha said the words meant that they were challenging his team to leave the area.

"Were these intruders rushing towards you and your team when they shouted those words?," asked Ram, to which Mancha replied: "Yes."

Mancha told the court the intruders' act of rushing towards his team was to attack his team.

"When the intruders were moving by walking fast (towards my team), I saw they were aiming their firearms at us," he said.

Earlier, when cross-examined by lawyer Datuk N Sivananthan, Mancha said he saw some of the intruders running away towards the direction of Kampung Tanduo when the shootout ended, but he did not pursue them.

"I have been attached with VAT69 for 28 years and I am experienced. Had I chased the intruders (who ran away from the shootout area), there was a possibility that I would have been ambushed and attacked by the armed intruders," he reasoned.

Mancha also said apart from firearms and six machetes found at the shoot-out area after it ended, there was a clothing bag which he did not open to see its contents.

Twenty-two of the 30 individuals jointly being tried, including two Malaysian men, are charged with waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment, and being members of a terrorist group, punishable with life imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.

Of the 22, one faces two additional charges of recruiting members of a terrorist group and harbouring persons knowing that they were members of a terrorist group.

Of the remaining eight, five are accused of being members of a terrorist group; one of them, the sole woman of the 30 and a Malaysian citizen, is charged with harbouring persons knowing they were members of a terrorist group, while two are charged with attempting to harbour persons knowing they were members of a terrorist group. The rest are Philippine nationals.

They are all accused of committing the respective offences between Feb 12 and April 10, last year.

The hearing before Justice Stephen Chung continues on Jan 15. — Bernama

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Anwar, five others discharged, application for stay dismissed

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and five others were yesterday discharged not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), on all charges relating to the Bersih 3.0 rally in the city on April 28, 2012.

Sessions Court judge Ahmad Bache granted their applications after finding that the charges were groundless, following the Court of Appeal (COA) decision to declare the Magistrate's Court order disallowing Dataran Merdeka to be the venue of the rally, as invalid.

"After considering arguments by both parties and perusing several authorities, I therefore, find the charges, as they stand now, as defective following the decision of the Court of Appeal declaring the said order invalid,"

"Hence, it follows that the charges are groundless," declared the judge.

Ahmad also dismissed the prosecution's application for a stay of the trial, pending an application at the Federal Court to reverse the Appeal Court (COA) decision on the Magistrate's Court order.

He said his court was mindful that an appeal to higher court, in this case the Federal Court, could not operate as a stay of execution of any judgment or orders given by the court (Court of Appeal).

"The decision of the Court of Appeal is hence, to be observed and complied forthwith. If at all, the prosecution should have made such application before the Court of Appeal itself, " he said.

Anwar, PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, Rembau PKR division chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin, Rasah PKR deputy head Tangam Raju, lawyer Rajesh Kumar and van driver Farhan Ibrahim filed the DNAA aplication yesterday.

On May 22, 2012, Anwar, 65, was charged jointly with Azmin, 49, and Badrul Hisham, 35, with participating in a street protest at the location on April 28 the same year, which allegedly caused chaos in the capital.

The trio also faced a second charge of conniving with Tangam Raju, Rajesh Kumar and Farhan by inciting them to remove steel barricades in Jalan Raja on the same day.

They were the first individuals to be charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the newly-enacted Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which provides for a maximum fine of RM10,000, upon conviction.

Later, the trio were slapped with a third charge of conspiring with Tangam, Rajesh, Farhan and five other supporters of the 'Coalition for Free and Fair Elections' (Bersih 3.0) to defy the Magistrate's Court order dated April 26, 2012, not to hold a rally at Dataran Merdeka between April 28 and May 1, 2012.

Counsel S. N. Nair and Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden represented Badrul Hisham, Karpal Singh appeared for Anwar while lawyer Gucharan Singh represented Azmin.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin prosecuted. — Bernama

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Two plead guilty to charges, appeal against sentence

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:25 AM PST

KUCHING: Two men who pleaded guilty to five charges of retaining stolen items under Section 411 of the Penal Code were released on RM10,500 cash bail pending appeal against severity of sentence yesterday.

The two, Mohd Asyrulnizam Loi Abdullah from Sungai Bakong, Bintangor, and Jeffery Phang from Jalan Batu Kitang Kuching, were initially sentenced to eight months in jail for each charge, which were to run concurrently from yesterday.

However, their defense counsel Lim Lian Kee appealed against the severity of their sentences and for stay of prosecution. Magistrate Maris Agan granted his appeal and released them on their original cash bail of RM10,500.

They will return on Jan 24 for the appeal case.

All five charges under Section 411 carry imprisonment of up to five years or fine or both sentences.

Under charges, on October 19 last year, at 4.45pm at a room at an Inn at Jalan Padungan Utama, they had dishonestly retained several stolen items belonging to several owners.

Among the stolen items were branded handbags, a portable video compact disc player and a digital video disc player, branded watches, cash, a laptop and a handphone.

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