©The
Sun (Used by permission)
by R. Surenthira Kumar
COURTROOMS were the backdrop for much theatre. There were scenes of drama, bravery, sideshows and a few happy endings.
Rehearsals for the year’s main production, the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial featuring two elite policemen and a well–connected political analyst, kicked off with the bail application of Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 46, who was charged with abetting the policemen to kill the Mongolian, aged 38.
Abdul Razak, who was granted RM1 million bail, was however denied temporary freedom when he failed to provide medical evidence of his poor health to the High Court in Shah Alam. Supporting cast comprising his wife and aughter, family members and staff of his consultancy, provided fodder for the media which reported their every word and gesture. Special Action Unit Chief Insp Azilah Hadri and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, mere extras in the murder mystery and remanded since their arrest, added to the intrigue by going to great lengths to keep their identity under wraps and playing peekaboo with prying lenses.
But six months after the opening statement, media as well as public interest has waned. The prosecution kicked off by promising to prove conspiracy, complicity and expose a confession. But contradictory testimony by star witnesses and a couple of impeachment proceedings later, the senior DPPs have yet to wind up their case.
» The year’s most–anticipated court decision was of the Lina Joy appeal, which brought into focus the issue of freedom of religion and jurisdictional issues between the civil and syariah courts. The Federal Court, in a majority decision on May 31, rejected her appeal to compel the National Registration Department (NRD) to remove the word Islam from her identity card.
The 42–year–old will now have to either subject herself to the jurisdiction of the Syariah court on whether she is an apostate or seek a review of the Federal Court decision.
Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim ruled that the NRD had reasonably imposed a condition requiring Lina to obtain a certificate of apostasy from the Syariah court before it deletes Islam from her MyKad. Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, however, dissented and criticised the NRD’s act as “unconstitutional and discriminatory”.
» The issue of religious conversion made occasional encores. In the case of R. Subashini, 29, and T. Saravanan @ Muhammad Shafi Abdullah, 31, the Court of Appeal ruled the civil court cannot stop a Muslim convert husband from going to the Syariah court to dissolve his marriage and also obtain custody of his children. In a two–one majority decision, it said Saravanan can proceed to the Syariah court to dissolve his marriage with his non–Muslim wife. The same court, on March 30, granted Subashini an injunction to stop Saravanan from converting their son and pursuing final custody of their children from the Syariah court.
» Another high–profile case, which had been going on for the past three years, came to an end. Tycoon Tan Sri Eric Chia Eng Hock, who was handpicked to manage foundering giant Perwaja Steel was acquitted on June 26 by the Sessions Court of a criminal breach of trust charge brought against him in 2004. Chia was accused of misappropriating RM76.4 million from Perwaja Rolling Mill and Development Sdn Bhd in his capacity as its managing director in 1994.
The trial, which lasted 43 days, saw 29 prosecution witnesses testifying against the 74–year–old Chia, who attended the hearings in a wheel–chair. Upon his release, Chia, although jubilant, claimed he had lost all his friends due to the charge.
In throwing out the case, the judge rapped the prosecution for not following procedure when collecting evidence and not calling the main witnesses.
» A decision which piqued public interest involved the Federal Court setting aside on July 19 the Court of Appeal decision which ordered toll operator Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd to pay RM65 million to construction company Fawziah Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The court also ordered the adverse remarks made by the judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram against former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin be expunged as it contained elements of bias. The court also expressed its regret that the remarks and findings were not only unnecessary, irrelevant and not supported by evidence, but also the language used was unwarranted.
The Court of Appeal, had on Jan 12, ordered Metramac, owner and operator of East West Link Expressway and Sungai Besi Expressway, to compensate Fawziah Holdings for loss of advertising rights, including all proceeds to be received under future contracts. Sri Ram, in his written grounds of judgment, implicated tycoon Tan Sri Halim Saad and his business partner, Datuk Anuar Othman, whom he said enjoyed Daim’s patronage.
» The nagging question of conflicting jurisdictions between the civil and Syariah courts again surfaced when the Federal Court called on Parliament to seek resolution to the issue, which had become more serious over the last two decades.
A three–man of justices Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamed, Datuk S. Augustine Paul and Datuk Ariffi n Zakaria said the legislature should tackle the problem, when one part of the issues fall within the jurisdiction of the civil court while the other part falls within the Syariah court’s jurisdiction.
The dispute arose over the monies in the joint current accounts belonging to Datuk Sharibun Wahab and his third wife, Latifah Mat Zin, following Sharibun’s death. Latifah claimed that the monies in the two joint accounts were hers, having been given to her by Sharibun as a gift (hibah), while Rosmawati and Roslinawati Sharibun, the deceased’s daughters with his second wife, claimed that they belonged to Sharibun’s estate to be distributed among the benefi ciaries under Faraid (Islamic system of asset distribution assets of a deceased Muslim).
Abdul Hamid said until the problem was solved by the legislature, the party who raised an Islamic issue in the civil court should file a case in the Syariah court solely for the determination of that issue and that decision of the Syariah court on that issue should then be applied by the civil court in the determination of the case.
» At the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 18, a man who was unlawfully detained for 57 days under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was awarded RM2.5 million in damages.
Justice Datuk Mohd Hishamuddin Mohd Yunus lambasted the police, in particular former Inspector–General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Rahim Noor and other senior police offi cers involved in the arrest and detention of Abdul Malek Hussin. He also ticked off the police Special Branch’s actions for the manner in which the investigations were conducted against Abdul Malek.
Abdul Malek was arrested by Special Branch offi cers in front of his house on Sept 25, 1998, at the height of the Reformasi gatherings. Mohd Hishamuddin said the arrest and detention was unlawful because Abdul Malek was never properly informed of the grounds of his arrest and the arrest and detention were mala fide (with bad intention).
» Federal police Commercial Crime Investigations Department director Datuk Ramli Yusuff was charged with two counts of failing to disclose information on his assets comprising two office units and 154,000 units of shares, and another for involvement in business. He was also charged with abuse of power by diverting a police aircraft to inspect a plot of land he part owned in Sabah.
» At year’s end, the courts were suddenly inundated with handling cases involving the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters who were charged with taking part in an illegal assembly, causing damage to public property and failing to disperse on police order. Thirty–one of them were also initially charged with attempted murder of a police officer during an illegal assembly at Batu Caves, but the charge was dropped by the Attorney–General’s Chambers. Five of the Hindraf leaders were also detained under the ISA.