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Lawyer questions witness’ testimony at Sabah High Court BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Court - New 2 Sarawak

Lawyer questions witness’ testimony at Sabah High Court

Posted: 22 May 2014 11:41 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: A lawyer defending a Filipino accused of being a terrorist questioned a prosecution witness at the High Court here yesterday as to how his client's identity card (IC) could be among personal documents found on intruders gunned down by security forces on March 6, 2013.

Counsel Datuk N. Sivananthan said Holland Soledad Kalbi was arrested on March 3, 2013, which was three days prior to the incident.

"At the time of his arrest, the accused was in possession of his IC," contended counsel.

The document initially held by Holland Kalbi who is facing life imprisonment and a fine if convicted, bore the authority, 'Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah)'.

In the witness box was General Operations Force (GOF) platoon commander ASP Mursalim Mohd Salleh who said he had seized an assortment of 21 Philippine ICs including Holland Kalbi's, at Kampung Tanjung Batu, Lahad Datu following a skirmish with armed intruders.

Sivananthan: If that IC belongs to Holland Kalbi, and assuming that he was arrested on March 3, 2013, wouldn't it be strange that you would find the card on March 6, 2013?

Mursalim: In my opinion, there is a big possibility that the card was held by somebody else or there could be another person of the same name.

Sivananthan: I put it to you that your ability to produce (in court) this card (belonging to Holland) as part of the items you seized was evidence of the fact that the items had been mixed up.

Mursalim: I disagree.

However, the prosecution's 27th witness agreed with counsel that the accused could not have been involved in the March 6 skirmish if he had been arrested three days earlier.

The GOF officer also agreed that it was common for every person to carry their own identification document. Earlier, Mursalim said the 21 ICs were found either in the pockets or wallets of the intruders who had been shot dead.

However, he said he could not recall the number of dead bodies that did not have idenfication documents.

Thirty accused, comprising 27 Filipinos and three local residents, are being tried in the case, in which some are facing multiple charges of being members of a terrorist group or waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, recruiting members for a terrorist group or willfully harbouring individuals they knew to be members of a terrorist group.

They allegedly committed the offences between Feb 12 and April 10 last year. The hearing before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prisons Department continues today. — Bernama

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Three charged with dishonestly inducing delivery of property

Posted: 22 May 2014 11:40 AM PDT

SIBU: Two men and a woman were brought to the court here yesterday to face a charge of alleged cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

Albert Ulie, 58, Julairi Johari, 60, and Mereka Jimi, 55, were charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code which provides for jail not less than a year but not more than 10 years. They are also liable to whipping and fine on conviction.

No plea was recorded from the trio when the case was brought up to the chamber.

Court Registrar Romme Ahmad Zaidi, presiding, allowed the three persons to be released on RM7,000 bail with two local sureties each.

They are to appear in court again on May 26 for further mention of the case.

According to the charge, the three persons committed the offence at a parking lot near a supermarket here about 10am on April 13.

They allegedly cheated 34-year-old Gina Untam by convincing her that they were officers from the Customs Department and that they could supply her cheap and tax-free wine. They allegedly persuaded Gina to hand over her gold necklace and a gold locket worth about RM10,000 as payment.

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Sedition trial: Application by Tian Chua, two others should be dismissed, says prosecution

Posted: 22 May 2014 11:06 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told yesterday that a second application by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Tian Chua and two other opposition activists to quash sedition charges against them should be dismissed, based on the doctrine of res judicata.

The doctrine bars re-litigation of matters that have already been determined by the court. It means that once a matter is judically decided, it is final.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas, in raising the preliminary objection before Justice Kamardin Hashim, said the application was similar.

He said they were merely attempting to strike out the charges on instalment basis.

"They should have included their points of law which they are raising now in the first application, and not do it by way of instalments," he pointed out.

Last Feb 18, the High Court had thrown out their first application to strike out the sedition charge on the grounds that it was premature and had no merit.

In this second application, they are seeking an order that the charge made against them under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 be revoked because it was an abuse of the court power and breached the Federal Constitution.

They claimed the law was unreasonable as it restricted their rights to freedom of speech and it also breached Article 10 (1) of the Federal Constitution.

During today's proceeding, the senior DPP also urged the court to dismiss the application on the grounds that the High Court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter under Section 30 of the Courts Judicature Act 1964.

Under the Act, Mohamad Abazafree argued that the application should be brought before the trial judge at the Sessions Court which can refer any point of law or constitutional issues to the High Court for determination.

Mohamad Abazafree also pointed out there was no such application at the lower court and that it was just a 'short-cut' attempt by them in the case.

Meanwhile, lawyer N Surendran said the applicant was only given a notice on the preliminary objection on the doctrine of res judicata, and not on the issue of jurisdiction, and needed time in preparing his submission on the issue.

Kamardin set May 29 to hear submissions from Surendran over the issue of jurisdiction.

However, Kamardin dismissed Surendran's application to stay the sedition trial at the Sessions Court.

On May 29, last year, Tian Chua, 51, Adam Adli, 25, and Hishamuddin, 62, were charged with giving seditious speeches at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharajalela, Dang Wangi here, between 8.55pm and 11.15pm on May 13, 2013.

They faced a fine of up to RM5,000 or jail not exceeding five years if convicted under Section Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948.

Meanwhile, Kamardin allowed an application by another activist, Hishamuddin Md Rais who faced a similar charge at the Sessions Court to stay his trial, pending a decision on the second application by the trio.

His counsel, Gobind Singh Deo told the court that some constitutional issues on Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act were pending at the Federal Court and set to be decided next week. — Bernama

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Duo jailed for retaining a stolen car

Posted: 21 May 2014 10:48 AM PDT

KUCHING: Two men were each sentenced to eight months' jail by a magistrates' court here yesterday after they pleaded guilty to retaining a stolen Perodua Kancil.

Rashid Ahmad Hassan, 38, and Mohd Shartir Amini Othman, 22, appeared before a magistrate who convicted them on their own guilty plea under Section 411 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code.

The brief facts of the case stated that around 9am last May 16, a primary school teacher lodged a police report after his Perodua Kancil parked outside a flat at Jalan Batu Kawa went missing.

He lodged a police report and round 5.30pm on the same day, a police team from Bau Police Station arrested two suspects.

Magistrate Zubaidah Sharkawi who presided over the case ordered the custodial sentence of the duo to take effect immediately.

Inspector Austin Patrick Angkon prosecuted while both accused were not represented.

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Filipino army officer’s identification document found in Lahad Datu, court told

Posted: 21 May 2014 10:46 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: An identification card (IC) belonging to a high ranking Filipino army official was found at a skirmish area in Kampung Tanjung Batu, Lahad Datu on March 7, last year, the High Court here was told yesterday.

ASP Mursalim Mohd Salleh said the document was among 21 types of ICs bearing Philippine citizenship.

"I remember that one of the cards was under the name, 'General Musa'," he said.

When identifying the cards tendered in court, he said one had the words which read, 'General Headquarters Bangsa Sulu Royal Security Force' under the name, 'General Musa A Abdullah.'

He told the court that the cardholder's post was stated as 'Vice Chief of Staff' and was signed by 'Raja Muda Datu Agbimuddin Kiram, Royal Defence Minister.'

Mursalim also told the court that six of the ICs displayed the words, 'Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah)', with most bearing the signature of Datu Agbimuddin.

The other cards displayed the words, 'General Headquarters Royal Security Force'; 'Headquarters 3rd Royal Security Force (Cobra) Brigade'; 'Headquarters Mindanao Allied Force (MAF) Inc', 'General Headquarters Royal Armed Forces' and one with words that read, 'Office of the President of the Philippines. Office of the Presidential Advisor of the Peace Process'.

Mursalim noted that among the identification documents were health cards, association membership cards, community college card, high school card and a voter's identification card.

Earlier, he identified 14 documents which he had seized at the village, including a blank piece of paper, two blank withdrawal slips of Bank Islam and lyrics of a religious song in the Suluk language.

Thirty accused, comprising 27 Filipinos and three local residents, are being tried in the case, in which some are facing multiple charges of being members of a terrorist group or waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, recruiting members for a terrorist group or willfully harbouring individuals they knew to be members of a terrorist group.

They allegedly committed the offences between Feb 12 and April 10 last year.

The hearing before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prisons Department continues today. — Bernama

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Abdul Khalid succeeds in amending statement of claim

Posted: 21 May 2014 10:21 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday allowed Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's application to amend his statement of claim in the suit against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and the Malaysian government.

Abdul Khalid is suing the two parties for allegedly implying that he had misused his position in his personal capacity and public office.

Judge Datuk Hue Siew Kheng made the decision in chambers after meeting Abdul Khalid's lawyer K. Muralidharan and Senior Federal Counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom, who appeared for Abu Kassim and the government.

Met by the media, Muralidharan said as a result of the ruling Abdul Khalid (plaintiff) can now amend his statement of claim to add another defendant, namely an MACC officer involved in the case. The lawyer added that the court had scheduled June 30 for case management.

Abdul Khalid, in his statement of claim filed on Dec 24 last year, said that the defendants had on April 4 last year interviewed one Airos Shahidin Manaf and then uploaded the interview on MACC's official web portal and YouTube.

He claimed that the interview was later downloaded, transcribed, printed and published in the local and foreign newspapers.

Abdul Khalid contended that the words in the article had implied that he was guilty of corrupt practice, untrustworthy and not fit to be a politician.

He further said that the defendants had failed to verify the truth of the allegations, adding that the article lowered his dignity as Bandar Tun Razak member of parliament and Port Klang state assemblyman. — Bernama

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