NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS
03
theSun ON FRIDAY | APRIL 1, 2011
Abdullah
tobecalled
aswitness
BY S. TAMARAI CHELVI
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PUTRAJAYA:
Former prime
minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi is expected to be called as
a witness in the trial of former
transport minister Tan Sri Chan
Kong Choy, who is chargedwith
three counts of cheating in relation
to the Port Klang Free Zone
(PKFZ).
DPPDzulkifli Ahmad told
reporters this outside the sessions
court after the case was mentioned
yesterday. Earlier, he had
informed sessions court judge
Azhaniz Teh Azman Teh that the
prosecution intended to call 15
witnesses.
Dzulkifli said the prosecution
had presented documents under
section 51A of the Criminal
Procedure Code andwas ready to
proceedwith the trial.
Azhaniz Teh fixedMay 10 for
mention after Chan’s counsel
ArthurWangMingWay
informed the court that the
defence had yet to study
documents from the
prosecution, which had been
handed to themonly on
Wednesday.
Wang said the defence was
awaitingmore documents. He
also said the defencemaymake
an application for further
documents andwas considering
whether to apply to have the
case transferred to the High Court.
Wang further said some
documents from the 19 sets
received from
the prosecu-
tionmay
have to be
de-
classified.
When
Azhaniz Teh
askedDzulkifli
if there was any chance of a
transfer to the High Court, he
replied: “There is no decision to
transfer the case.”
Chan, 55, had on Feb 28,
claimed trial to three charges
preferred under Section 417 of
the Penal Code. He is alleged to
have:
between Feb 24 and Feb 25,
2004, deceived the then prime
minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi into approving renovation
work to be carried out by Kuala
Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) as the
turnkey developer of PKFZ,
previously called the Pulau Indah
Free Zone;
betweenOct 11 andOct 28, 2005,
deceived Abdullah into approving
KDSB as turnkey developer to
carry out three additional
development projects amounting
to RM518.38million;
betweenMarch 28 andMarch
29, 2006, deceived Abdullah into
approving KDSB as turnkey
developer to carry out five
additional development projects
amounting to RM335.8million.
The offences are alleged to
have been committed on the
fourth floor of the Prime
Minister’s Office here.
KUALA LUMPUR:
Hairstylist Teh
KimHongwas sentenced to death by
the High Court yesterday after he
was convicted of the abduction and
murder of FormFour student Lai
Ying Xin in Johor three years ago.
Teh, 26, was alleged to have
committed the offences in Kulai on
Sept 11, 2008.
OnNov 25 last year, a 17-year-old
juvenile was discharged and
acquitted of the offences at the end of
the prosecution’s case. Teh and two
other teenagers were found guilty
after they testified as defence
witnesses.
The two teenagers were ordered
to be detained at the pleasure of the
sultan, escaping the death sentence as
theywere aged 16 and 17 at the time of
the offences. Justice DatukMohd
Zawawi Sallehmade the order under
Section 97(2)(b) of The Child Act
2001, which allows a reviewof
detention every year by the Board of
Visitors.
On the first charge, the accused
were chargedwith themurder of Lai
between 9.45pmon Sept 11, 2008 and
midnight at a house on Jalan Alor
Bukit Kulai, Kulai Jaya. Theywere
also accused of abducting her in front
of a hypermarket on Jalan Kulai-Air
Hitamat 9.45pmon Sept 11 with the
intention of securing a ransomof
RM60,000 fromher family.
In handing down sentence, Mohd
Zawawi described the crime as
merciless with the intention of
obtaining a ransomwhich had
resulted in the brutal murder of an
innocent person. “You did not show
the helpless girl an iota of mercy, and
attempted to cover up the crime by
disposing of evidence at a secluded
place,” he said.
Mohd Zawawi said the court had
also taken into consideration the
suffering of Lai’s parents and family.
According to the facts of the case,
Lai, whowas known to three of the
accused, was last seen leaving the
hypermarket at which she worked
part time in a silver car on Sept 11. The
following day, her mother received a
call froman unidentifiedman at
about 6.20am, demanding a
RM60,000 ransom for her release.
Between Sept 12 and Sept 14, 2008,
Lai’s familywas contacted several
times before the abductors agreed to
a RM30,500 ransom, which the family
agreed to deliver at about 4amon
Sept 15. Acting on a report, police
detained three of the abductors at
about 6.10pmon that day and
recovered part of the ransom
amounting to RM22,000, before
detaining a fourth an hour later.
The following day, Teh led police
to Lai’s body, which had been burnt
beyond recognition in a bush in
Taman Puteri, Kulai. Lai’s mother,
Chia SiewPhen, 48, whowas present
in court, said justice had been done. –
Bernama
MACCman
watching
porn
atwork
BY TAN YI LIANG
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR:
AMalaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) officer was downloading
pornography in his office in the early hours of
July 16, 2009 after assisting in the interviewof
Teoh BengHock, the chairman of a Royal
Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating
Teoh’s death, Tan Sri James Foong, revealed
yesterday.
Foong said this toMACCNegri Sembilan
chief HishamuddinHashimwho admitted to
having been unaware that Mohd Ashraf Mohd
Yunus was viewing pornography at the time.
Hishamuddin, whowas SelangorMACC deputy
headwhen Teohwas found dead on July 16, 2009,
was being questioned by Bar Council lawyer
CheowWee when Foong disclosed this
information.
“When the whole operationwas ongoing,
Ashraf was downloading pornography at 1.25am
on July 16 after interviewing the witness ... even
though there is a government directive forbid-
ding it,” Foong said. Ashraf had testified that he
was reading
theSun
at his office at the time.
Hishamuddin said he was hearing the
information for the first time and that it was a
personal matter and out of his control, towhich
Foong replied: “You should knock on his door, go
in and see what he is doing.”
Political aide Teohwas brought in to the
SelangorMACC office on July 15 as a witness in
investigations into the activities of his employer,
Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian
Wah.
To questions fromCheow relating to a poison
pen letter, Hishamuddin said he did give the
police a DNA sample, and dismissedwhat was
alleged to be his “trademark” interrogation
technique of picking up interviewees by the belt
and shaking themas lies. “I was the deputy
director then and I just coordinated and gave
orders,” he said.
Bar Council lawyer Edmund Bon
then repeatedly askedHishamuddin
who had been in charge of the
operation, saying: “Anuar, Hairul and
you pointed at each other.”
Hishamuddin replied that the head of
operations was Hairul IlhamHamzah, andMohd
Anuar Ismail inHairul’s absence.
Questioned by conducting officer
Awang Armadajaya AwangMahmud
earlier, Hishamuddin said Section 47
of theMalaysian Anti-Corruption
Act 2009 givesMACC officers
the power to compel witnesses
to cooperate in investigations.
“Under
Section 47,
officers may compel
witnesses to give information
in a courteous way,” he said.
To questions fromCheow
on investigation and
interrogation techniques
used, Hishamuddin described theMACC’s
techniques as “ordinary”. “Our meetings with
witnesses are conducted in harmony. It is useless
to use force as witnesses may turn hostile when
in court. There is no other technique. We
need their help
to get truthful
information,” he
said, adding
tha t threa t s
were not
u s e d .
The hearing
continues
tomorrow.
>Commission chairmandiscloses investigating
officer’swhereabouts after Teohwas interviewed
o
FREEMOVIE TICKETS
IN CONJUNCTION
with
Listerine’s launch of its most
advanced mouthwash Listerine
Total Care, the company will give
away movie tickets for Purple
Movie Mania on April 8 at the
Golden Screen Cinemas, Pavilion
Kuala Lumpur. Moviegoers
wearing outfits in a shade of
purple closest to the colour of the
newmouthwash that day will
receive two free tickets each.
There will also be a photography
contest the same day if you come
dressed in the most creative
purple outfit and take a picture at
the ticket giveaway counter.
RM1,000 awaits the winner.
HELL HATHNOFURY ...
WELLINGTON:
Two women who
discovered they were sleeping
with the same man got together in
a revenge attack on his home, a
New Zealand court heard, accord-
ing to news reports yesterday.
They pouredmaple syrup in his
bed, cooked his shoes in a micro-
wave, turned off his freezer, and
poured bleach
on his clothes
before dumping
them in his spa pool.
After learning that he had sent
them the same naked
photograph of himself, they
decided to blackmail him for
NZ$4,000 (RM10,500) each –
what they believed he owed
them for their contribution to
their relationships. Kaycee Te
AomaramaWall, 30, and Lani
Aperahama, 40, admitted
intentional damage and black-
mail and were sentenced on
Wednesday in the Auckland
High Court to 350 hours of
community service. – dpa
HK’S PROBLEMWITH
CHINA’SMUMS-TO-BE
HONGKONG:
Public hospitals
here are struggling to cope as
40,000 women a year fromChina
cross the border to give birth,
Health Secretary York Chow was
quoted as saying by the South
China Morning Post on
Wednesday. He said the
number of mainland women
giving birth in the city had
risen from a few hundred
six years ago to nearly
half Hongkong’s 88,000
births in 2010.
Babies born here
are entitled to
residency, free
education and
healthcare in the
former British colony.
– dpa
court after the case was menti
yesterday. Earlier, he had
informed sessions court judge
Azhaniz Teh Azman Teh that t
prosecution intended to call 15
witnesses.
Dzulkifli said the prosecuti
had presented documents und
section 51A of the Criminal
Procedure Code andwas ready
proceedwith the trial.
Azhaniz Teh fixedMay 10
mention after Chan’s coun
ArthurWanangMingWay
informed the court that th
defefence had yet to study
docum
e
me
me
me
ntnts frf om the
prprososececututioion,n whichch had been
haha
nd
eded to o ththememonlnly y onon
WeWedndnesesday.y.
WaWangng saiaid
d
th
t
he e dedefefencnce was
awaw
aw
aw
aia tingmore dodocumentn s. H
also said the defef ncemaym
anan application for further
dodocucumementnts s anand dwas conside
whether to apppplyly to o hah ve the
case transferred to the High C
Wang further said some
documents from the 19 sets
received f
hthe prose
tionmay
have to
de-
classif
Whe
Azhaniz
askedDzu
ifif thehererer wasas
as
a
a
n
yny chance of a
trtranansfsferer to o thththe High Court, he
rereplplieied:d: “ThThere is no decision
trtranan fsfsferer thehe case.”
ChChanan, , 5555, , hah d on Feb 28,
claimed d trial toto three charges
prprefefererrered d unundeder r Section 417 o
ththe PePenanal l CoCodede. HeH is alleged
have:
betwtweeeen n FeFeb b b 2424 and Feb 25,
20200404, dededececececeivivivivedededed thehehehe thehen prprimime
minister Tunun Abdbdullah Ahmad
merciless with the intention of
btaining a ransomwhich had
esulted in the brutal murder of an
nnocent person. “You did not show
he helpless girl an iota of mercy, and
ttetempmpteted toto covoverer up ththe crcrimime byby
isposing of evidence at a secluded
d
n
to
ohd
e.
eputy
2009,
er
g,
25am
even
bid-
at he
s a
hihichch
oro , gogo
ss in
loyer,
ian
oison
e
was
e belt
ve
Anuar Ismail in nHaHairirulul s absence.
Questioned by condnducucting
o
ff
ff
ic
ic
er
Awang Armadajayaya A
wa
wangngMahah
mu
mud d
earlier, Hisishamuddini s
ai
a d d Sectct
io
n
n 474
of theMalayaysisian Anti-CoCorrrrupuptiti
on
on
Act 2009 givesesMACA C officecersrs
the power to comompepel witntnesseses s
to cooperate in inveveststigigations.
“Under
Section 47,
witnesses are conducted in harmony. It is useless
to use force as witnesses may turn hostile when
in court. There is no other technique. We
need their help
to get truthful
information,” he
said, adding
tht a t threa t s
were not
u s e d .
The hearing
continues
tomorrow.
poured blel ach h
on hisi clothes
before dumping
theme in his spa pool. .
fAfter r r leleleara ning that he had sent t
thththem the same naked
photograph of himself, they
decided to blackmail him for
NZ$4,000 (RM10,500) each –
what they believed he owed
them for their contribution to
ththeieir rerelalatitiononshshipips. Kayaycecee TeTe
AomaramaWall 30 and Lani
‘DISASTERPLAN
INADEQUATE’
–PAGE10
B R I E F S
Hairstylist tohang
formurder, teens held