Khamis, 30 Disember 2010

Malaysian Politic

SPEAK UP! :: Comment & Analysis

Net falls on politicians
By Tan Yi Liang


AS 2010 comes to a close it is clear that it was a year with much courtroom action. Some of the notable cases were:

>> PKFZ trials Former transport minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik was charged on July 29 with allegedly deceiving the government in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco.

The criminal proceedings over the cost overruns in the PKFZ began in December last year with charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT) against former Port Klang Authority general manager O. C. Phang on three counts totalling RM254.85 million, as well as charges against three Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB)-linked officers, Low Jenn Dong, Steven Abok and Bernard Tan.

Ling claimed trial under Section 418 of the Penal Code for allegedly misleading the cabinet into approving the purchase of the land in Pulau Indah, Port Klang, in 2002 which was developed into the PKFZ. The case was transferred to the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov 30.

>> KHIR TOYO
Another "big fish" was former Selangor mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo who was charged on Dec 6 with obtaining – for himself and his wife Datin Seri Zahrah Kechik – two plots of land and a house in Shah Alam, from Ditamas Sdn Bhd through its director Shamsuddin Hayroni at the price of RM3.5 million when in fact the lots were bought by Ditamas on Dec 23, 2004 at the price of RM6.5 million. Khir pleaded not guilty.

>> PEMPENA
Another case was the charging of three top figures in Tourism Malaysia and two former officials of its subsidiary, Pembangunan Pelancongan Nasional Sdn Bhd (Pempena).

The three are the director-general of Tourism Malaysia, Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg Mirza Hadi Hassan Beg, former Pempena chief operating officer Mohd Rosly Mohd Selamat and former Pempena financial controller Lim Khing Thai.

Mirza and Mohd Rosly claimed trial to CBT of RM888,000. Mohd Rosly and Lim, 38 claimed trial to a joint charge of CBT involving RM169,770 on Aug 15, 2006.

>> HERALD'S USE OF 'ALLAH' and CHURCH ARSON
This year saw a number of cases involving religious sensitivities, the first being the decision of Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan on Dec 31, last year, allowing Catholic newsletter Herald to use the word "Allah" in its publication to refer to God. Lau held that the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in the magazine to propagate the Christian religion but not Islam.

The Herald decision inadvertently triggered a few church attacks – the worst being an arson attack which gutted the first floor of the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati, Wangsa Maju, on Jan 7. Three men were charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and one – despatch rider Azwan Shah Ahmad – was acquitted on July 30. Two brothers, Raja Muhammad Faizal Raja Ibrahim and Raja Muhammad Idzham, were sentenced to five years in prison by judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah.

>> COW HEAD PROTEST
The Shah Alam Sessions Court fined 12 men RM1,000 each after they pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal assembly on Aug 28, 2009 for the protest in front of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah building in Shah Alam at 2.30pm on Aug 28 last year. The protest was against the construction of a Hindu temple in Section 23, Shah Alam. The 12 were Ibrahim Sabri, Ahmad Mahayuddin Abdul Manaf, Ahmad Suhairy Zakaria, Mohd Hilmi Ni, Mohd Azmir Mohd Zin, Eyzva Ezhar Ramly, Jainuddin alias Zainuddin Mohd Yusuff, Mohd Jurit Ramli, Mohd Nordin Zakaria, Jamil Mohd Isa, Rahimuddin Mohd Harun and Azhari Shaari.

Additionally, Hasbi Hasan also imposed a RM3,000 fine on one of them, Mohd Azmir Mohd Zin, and a week's jail and a RM3,000 fine on another, Eyzva Ezhar Ramly, after they pleaded guilty to obtaining and stepping on a cow's head.

>> PERAK GOVT TUSSLE
Politics featured in 2010 in the Federal Court ruling of Feb 9 that Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir was the legal mentri besar of Perak. This ended the bid by PAS's Pasir Panjang state assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar, who initiated legal proceedings on Feb 13, 2009, seeking a declaration that he is the rightful mentri besar of Perak and an injunction barring Zambry from discharging his duties as the mentri besar.

Nizar was appointed mentri besar after the Pakatan Rakyat won 31 seats in the 12th general election on March 8, 2008, but lost the majority in the state assembly after three state assemblymen quit their party to become independents.

BN scored a similar victory when the Election Court ruled that MIC's

P. Kamalanathan was the rightful Hulu Selangor MP, dismissing the election petition filed by the defeated candidate, Zaid Ibrahim, then of PKR.

>> RMAF ENGINE THEFT
A Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) sergeant and a company director claimed trial at the Sessions Court over charges related to two

F-5E jet engines which were reported stolen on May 22, 2008.

The two, N. Tharmendran, and K. Rajandran Prasad, both claimed trial on Jan 6 at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court on Jan 6. Tharmendran was charged with abetting the theft of the two F-5E engines in collusion with Senior Airman Mohd Shukri Mohd Yusof.

Rajandran was charged with under S414 of the Penal Code for allegedly disposing of the two engines which he knew were stolen on April 30, 2008 on April 30, 2006 at No 49, Jalan TS 6/8 at the Subang Industrial Park.

>> SHOOTING A MINOR
Police Cpl Jenain Subi was charged at the Shah Alam Sessions Court for culpable homicide not amounting to the murder of 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah at Jalan Tarian 11/2, Section 11, Shah Alam between 1.10am and 2am on April 26.

>> SODOMY II

A second sodomy trial involving PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim began on Feb 2 amid applications to the Federal Court for documents. The trial began with the testimony of Anwar's accuser, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and heard graphic details of the alleged act by Saiful. It saw attempts to recuse trial judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah as well as a bid to have the case struck out.

The trial continues at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

>> SOSILAWATI MURDER TRIAL
Lawyer N. Pathmanabhan, 41, and farm workers T. Thilaiyalagan, 19, R. Matan, 20, and R. Kathavarayan, 30, were charged at the Banting magistrate's court with the murder of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and her three associates, driver Kamarudin Shansudin, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Karim, and bank officer Noorhisham Mohd.

The four were charged on Oct 13, and this was followed on Oct 15 when odd-job worker U. Suresh and mechanic K. Sarawanan were sentenced to seven years jail on Oct 15 after pleading guilty to disposing of evidence. Mention has been set for Jan 27 pending the disposal of a revision application and appeal by Suresh and Sarawanan set for Jan 10.

>> TEOH BENG HOCK death INQUEST
The inquest, which began on Aug 5, 2009 began in 2010 with contempt proceedings – first against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation officer Raub Ghani for a police report lodged against Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand and Suara Keadilan.

Pornthip, who had testified that the death of the former aide to Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah was "80% homicide", was given an assurance on Jan 15 by the attorney-general, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, that it was safe for her to come to Malaysia.

The contempt proceedings were dismissed by Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas on Feb 1.

This was followed by pressure on Pornthip through "informal channels" to pull out, resulting in her missing her original April 20 court appearance, and contempt proceedings against Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz for calling Pornthip a "liar".

The application, which was filed by Teoh's family on April 17 was dismissed by the coroner on May 21.

The inquest heard the testimony of Dr Shahidan Md Noor on March 10 and Dr Peter Vaneizis on April 27, before Pornthip testified on Aug 18.

The inquest was also shaken by the revelation in court on Aug 9 of a note found in Teoh's bag which was discovered on July 17, a day after he was found dead at Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam.

A decision will be made early next year.
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