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Liew appeals against High Court’s decision BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Court - New 2 Sarawak

Liew appeals against High Court’s decision

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 02:29 PM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Datuk VK Liew is appealing against the Kota Kinabalu High Court's decision to dismiss his application to revoke the Registrar of Societies' (ROS) decision on the current LDP leadership.

Liew in a statement responding to the decision announced by Justice Stephen Chung Hian Guan on Monday, said that he had instructed his solicitors to file the appeal.

In his statement, Liew said, "The Kota Kinabalu High Court has, on 17 February 2014, dismissed my application for leave to commence judicial review so as to challenge the decision of the Registrar of Societies communicated to me by way of a letter dated 7.1.2014.

"After consulting my solicitors, I have been advised that I should appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court decision and I have instructed my solicitors to proceed with the appeal.

"Although the decision is a temporary setback in my quest for justice, it has further strengthened my resolve to continue to seek the truth. At the same time, I continue to pray for the wellbeing of all concerned and that they will continue to have the peace and the joy of God," he said.

Commenting on current LDP president Datuk Teo Chee Kang's willingness to work on a settlement in the interest of the party, Liew said he also wants to see an amicable solution to the leadership tussle affecting the party.

Liew said that he is ready to listen and talk it over with Teo.

"The Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has wished it too and I am all ears for it. I need to consult my supporters too and I wish we can come to terms," he said.

On Monday, Teo said he had conveyed to Liew through third parties, his desire for an amicable settlement of the judicial review by which the latter had sought relief of the court to quash the Registrar of Societies' (ROS) letter recognizing Teo as the party president.

However, Teo has yet to receive any response from Liew.

To the question if he had been approached by these 'third parties', Liew replied, "No. Nothing formal except through some SMSes which I am a bit skeptical (of). I must say that I have said since last year that my doors are open but no one has come knocking until now.

"I appreciate Teo's open gesture. The Chief Minister is concerned, which is understandable, as the matter has dragged on for much too long and this affects the interest of BN," he said.

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Commando maintains instructions followed, says intruders shot as his men felt threatened

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 02:26 PM PST

by Suraini Andokong. Posted on February 19, 2014, Wednesday

KOTA KINABALU: A senior VAT 69 commando told the trial of 29 persons for terrorism acts that his men never explained to him whether six intruders who were shot dead in Kg Tanjung Batu, Lahad Datu, had threatened their lives.

DSP Hakemal Hawari, who was testifying before High Court Justice Stephen Chung, said he was only told that the alleged gunmen were shot as his men felt their lives were being threatened while carrying out 'cut Off' operation in Tanjung Batu, Lahad Datu.

"Did you ask whether there were any firearms found with the alleged Sulu militants?" asked Sivananthan, who acted for the 26 accused, including the nephew of the self-styled Sulu Sultan III Datu Jamalul Kiram.

The eighth prosecution witness replied "No."

Hakemal also testified that he did not ask his men whether the alleged Sulu militants had many firearms or not.

Sivananthan: "You are the commanding officer for your men and it was your duty to ask why your men shot dead the alleged Sulu militants?

Hakemal: "Before we went to do our assignment we were already given instructions and we do as what we were instructed."

However, he agreed that it was his duty to correct his men if they acted in an irresponsible manner.

He said his men were divided into several patrols led by three police inspectors during their assignment at Tanjung Batu.

To another question by Sivananthan, Hakemal said there were a few dead bodies found after the aerial bombing operation carried out in the vicinity of Kampung Tanduo.

"I'm not sure what were their clothing as the personnel who excavated the bodies were not from my team," he explained.

He also said the bodies were found at various locations, mainly at one of the areas of responsibility of VAT 69 commandos.

"After the bombing operation, we proceeded with the clearing operation and we found there were still houses in the area but no civilian or gunmen found."

He added that there was no firearms found when sweeping and clearing the area.

The accused persons are charged with committing terrorism activities in several places in Lahad Datu, Semporna and Sandakan between February 12 and April 10, 2013.

They face the mandatory death sentence while the rest provide for life imprisonment and a fine, upon conviction.

The hearing was held at a hall doubled as an open court at Kepayan prisons here under tight security checks.

The Attorney-General led the prosecution team and assisted by deputy public prosecutors Abdul Wahab Mohamed, Ishak Mad Yusoff, Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Cheng Heng Kher and Anati Kisahi.

Sivananthan was assisted by James Tsai, Stella Simon, Zaleha Mohd Yusof Pan, Majnah Abdillah and Zakaria Ahmad while counsels Kamarudin Mohd Chinki, Ram Singh, YS Lo, Rowiena Rasad and Abdul Ghani Zelika acted for other three accused persona, respectively.

The trial continues today.

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Vegetable seller gets 6 years and 3 strokes for snatching

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:51 PM PST

SIBU: A vegetable seller was yesterday ordered by the Sessions Court here to remain behind bars for six years and be canned twice after he pleaded guilty to snatching.

Judge Indra Ayub also ordered 22-year-old Frizer Nyelang of Ulu Lasi, Julau to pay RM1,000 to his victim as compensation.

Frizer committed the offence at 6.15pm on Oct 14, 2012 somewhere along Kanowit-Julau KJD road.

His victim, a 39-year-old woman, was riding a motorcycle when Frizer pulled up from behind on a motorcycle and snatched her handbag placed in the basket of her motorcycle.The handbag contained a cell phone, bangles, RM360 and other personal documents.

The woman, who estimated her loss at RM979 said she could recognise the assailant. She led a police team to a longhouse at Ulu Lasi road at 10.45pm the same day and recovered her handphone.

Frizer was only arrested about 8.30am on Jan 28 this year at Pasi Road in Sarikei.

He was charged under Section 392 of the Penal Code which provides for a jail term up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.

Frizer, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency, saying it was his first offence, and that he was self-employed earning between RM300 and RM400 a month. He also said he was married with two step children aged 7 and 18 years.

Inspector G Anbarasu prosecuted.

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Uthayakumar: High Court upholds jail sentence of two years and six months

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:50 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here upheld the jail sentence of two years and six months imposed on lawyer P Uthayakumar by the Sessions Court for writing a letter of a seditious nature to former British prime minister Gordon Brown seven years ago.

Justice Datuk Mohd Azman Husin said that after scrutinising the record of appeal, he found that the lower court had come to a correct and accurate decision against the appellant.

Uthayakumar, who is serving his sentence at the Kajang Prison since June last year, had sought the court's permission to meet his family members before being taken back to prison.

Justice Mohd Azman allowed the request made by Uthayakumar who appeared cheerful throughout the court proceedings yesterday.

Uthayakumar, who was represented by Counsel M Manoharan, told reporters that he would make an appeal at the Court of Appeal as soon he received the written judgement on today's decision from the court.

Uthayakumar, was charged with writing a letter of a seditious nature which was addressed to Gordon Brown, who was then Britain's prime minister, at 10 Downing Street, London, United Kingdom.

He was charged with committing the offence at Jalan Toman 7, Kemayan Square, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan on Nov 15, 2007 under Section 4(1)(a) of the Sedition Act 1948.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin appeared for the prosecution.

Meanwhile, at the same court, Mohd Azman rejected the applicaton by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Tian Chua and two other opposition activists to strike out the charge concerning an offence for giving a speech of a seditious nature at a ceramah (talk) on May 13, last year.

Mohd Azman rejected the application made by Tian Chua, Adam Adli Abd Halim and Hishamuddin Md Rais as the application was premature and lacked merit.

"The court finds that the facts of the case were the same as the application filed by Tian Chua at the Court of Appeal concerning the issue on Lahad Datu.

"As such, the court finds that the application is premature and has no merit at this stage.The application submitted by the applicant is rejected and returned to the Sessions Court," he said.

Tian Chua or his real name Chua Tian Chang, 51, Adam Adli, 25, and Hishamuddin, 62, are alleged to have given a speech at a ceramah by using seditious words to incite the people in the country to change the government which had been formed according to the law, in an unlawful manner.

They are alleged to have committed the offence at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall at No 1 Jalan Maharajalela, Dang Wangi here between 8.55pm and 11.15pm on May 13, last year. The three accused are being charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 (Act 15) and punishable under Section 4(1) of the same act which carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a jail term of up to five years, upon conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Azlina Rasdi appeared for the prosecution while all the three accused
were represented by counsels Lathefa Koya and N.Surendran.

Meanwhile Tian Chua, who was met outside the court, said that he would file an appeal on the decision within this week. — Bernama

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Nurul Izzah still working on solution to her divorce case

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:46 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Lembah Pantai MP, Nurul Izzah Anwar is still trying to resolve the divorce case she had filed against her husband Raja Ahmad Shahrir Iskandar Raja Salim at the Syariah Court here last month.

"They are still working on a way to resolve this amicably," her lawyer Normawaddah Ramli told the press outside the court after the case was mentioned in the chambers of Syarie Judge Ab Malek Awang.

The case was fixed for second mention on March 11.

Nurul Izzah, 34, the eldest child of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, filed a request for divorce under Section 47 of Islamic Family Law Act 1984.

Raja Ahmad Shahrir Iskandar, 35, was present in court, accompanied by his lawyer Muhamad Nakhaei Ishak. However, Nurul Izzah was not in court.

The section deals with the dissolution of marriage through divorce by talak or court order.

The couple were married on May, 9 2003 and have a daughter, aged 7, and a son, 4. — Bernama

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Federal Court allows Merong Mahawangsa, executive director leave to appeal

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:37 AM PST

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court gave the nod to Merong Mahawangsa Sdn Bhd and its executive director here yesterday to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling to pay RM20 million in fees to businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah for his services in procuring the controversial 'crooked bridge' project in Johor Bahru.

A five-member panel chaired by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum unanimously allowed the application for leave to appeal by developer, Merong Mahawangsa and Datuk Yahya Abdul Jalil.

The panel which also comprised Federal Court judges Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar, Datin Paduka Zaleha Zahari, Datuk Zainun Ali and Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin allowed one question of law to be deliberated at the appeal stage. The question was, whether an agreement to provide services to influence a public decision maker to award a contract is a contract opposed to public policy as defined under Section 24 (e) of the Contracts Act 1950 and therefore void.

On April 3, last year, the Court of Appeal had allowed Eskay's appeal, entitling him to receive RM20 million in commission fees from Merong Mahawangsa and Yahya for services rendered.

Prior to that on May 5, 2011, the High Court had dismissed Eskay's civil suit against Merong Mahawangsa and Yahya for breach of contract after ruling that he (Eskay) was not entitled to claim payment because the project was terminated.

The Malaysia-Singapore International Gateway project to replace the Johor-Singapore Causeway (dubbed the crooked bridge) was terminated by the government on April 12, 2006 despite the commencement of preliminary works.

Merong Mahawangsa was paid RM155 million in compensation by the government for canceling the project.

Eskay, who is one of the 'Datuk T' trio, who revealed a sex video allegedly showing an opposition leader having sex with a prostitute, filed the suit in 2002 claiming that Yahya had, in 1998, sought his help to procure the project from the government and to seek foreign funding for the RM640 million project.

He further claimed that Yahya had sought his help for his good ties with the government and that he had also taken Yahya to the residence of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Finance Minister at that time, to discuss the project.

Yahya, in his defence, denied using Eskay's good ties with the government as doing so was "against public policy and illegal." He also denied that Merong Mahawangsa was awarded the bridge project by the government.

Counsel Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin represented Merong Mahawangsa and Yahya, while counsel Datuk C V Prabhakaran appeared for Eskay. — Bernama

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