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04 March 2011
Lenggeng rep guilty of corruption
Lenggeng assemblyman Mustafa Salim was found guilty of corruption — raising the possibility of another by-election.
Sessions Court judge Amran Jantan fixed April 1 for sentencing.
The court had earlier found Mustafa guilty of accepting a RM2,000 bribe from a contractor as inducement to issue a support letter to mine sand, more than two years ago.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) representative in the Negri Sembilan State Assembly was however acquitted of two counts of soliciting bribes from M. Manimaran for the same purpose.
A former teacher, 51-year-old Mustafa was acquitted on April 14, 2010 of three charges of bribery by the Sessions Court without entering a defence.
However, the prosecution appealed the verdict and the High Court ordered him on November 3 to submit a defence.
He was found guilty under section 10(a)(aa) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 that carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the value of the bribe.
Under the state constitution, an assemblyman will be disqualified from the assembly if sentenced to at least a year in prison or fined RM2,000 or more.
The final date for a by-election in Negri Sembilan is April 25 as any vacancy three years after the first sitting of the assembly after it has been dissolved need not be filled.
However, Mustafa may choose to appeal against his conviction which would delay his disqualification even if the decision is upheld.
Mustafa beat Zulkefly Mohamad Omar from PAS by 5,555 votes to 4,270 in the March 2008 election.
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If a by-election is called, my prediction is BN will retain the seat. For what reason? The local voter can tolerate having another corruption representative. orrr....
It will be a fine of less than RM2, 000 and Mr Lenggeng will still be a BN assemblyman...if it was a PR man, you could be assured the letter for by election would be out by another BN crony the EC, by early next week....all this is the 1 Malaysia way of doing things , we area all citizens of 1 country but have a different set of laws...
Anwar claims statement to police altered
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed his statement to the police following his arrest in 2008 was different from that which was tendered as evidence in his sodomy trial today.
He told the High Court today that there were stark differences between what was produced in court today, and the copy of his statement that he gave to DSP Jude Pereira on July 16, 2008.
Anwar testified that the statement produced in court today was not the same as the one his lawyer Sankara Nair had received on November 14, 2008 — nearly four months after his overnight arrest at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
Among the differences raised by the PKR de facto leader was the fact that there was an entire page missing from the statement served to Sankara compared with the one he read in court today.
“My point is 112 (the statement) has two versions — sent to us and what is being shown to me now,” said Anwar. ““What’s sent to me is not the copy of original.”
He said that the missing page also contained signatures of both Anwar and Pereira.
Anwar also said that Pereira’s name and designation were not included in the copy given to Sankara, while the one given by the prosecution had Pereira’s name and designation.
The 63- year old politician also said that the copy of the statement served to him did not contain the word “sulit” while the one produced today did.
Karpal Singh, Anwar’s counsel, echoed his client’s testimonies later.
“We are saying that the 112 statement recorded by Jude differs from the one served to Sankara,” said the veteran lawyer.
Anwar maintained his stand that no grounds of arrest were given except the reading of the charge.
“There was not even a police report, which I received 4-5 months later,” he said. “You don't just arrest a person, you must have grounds, basis .”
When asked by Karpal what he understood by the term “rakaman percakapan selesai”, Anwar said that it meant the interrogation had been completed.
“I gave my explanation, denied charge, cooperated fully with Jude. What I understood from ‘selesai’ means it’s finished, that I could go back home,” he added.
Anwar’s lawyers have argued that several items obtained by the police from a holding cell where Anwar was held overnight on July 17, 2008, were illegally obtained, and want them to be rendered inadmissible, hence the reason for a trial-within-a-trial.
The trial will resume on Monday morning with both the defence and prosecution presenting their final submissions for trial judge Datuk Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah to decide.
He is expected to pass a ruling on the matter on Monday itself.
The complainant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, has said that Anwar, his ex-boss, had sodomised him at a luxury condominium in upper-class Bukit Damansara here on June 26, 2008.
Saiful, now aged 25, has never named anyone else.
Anwar is facing sodomy charges for the second time.
He has denied the charge, describing it as “evil, frivolous lies by those in power” when the charge was read out to him.
He is charged under section 377B of the Penal Code and can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction. The trial is taking place 18 months after Anwar was charged in court in August 2008.
He was charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998 after he was sacked from the Cabinet and was later convicted and jailed for both offences.
He was freed in September 2004 and later resurrected his political career by winning back his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a by-election in 2008, which had been held in the interim by his wife.
He led the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, to a historic sweep of five states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008
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UMNO loves to frame people because they cannot stop cheating, lying, stealing, and even killing. All the UMNO cybertroopers here are satanic sycophants whose intentions are only to perpetuate the evil rule of the Nazi-like party. There is nothing else for them to do but greed, blood-sucking, race-bashing, and lie-spreading - everything that their holy book tells them not to do. Your Allah is watching, little devils.
UMNO failed in Sodomy 1. They are trying their best on Sodomy 2. God have shown us the fate of Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan leaders. It wont be long for the fate of our Malaysian leaders too. Nothing in this world will remain for ever.
We know from the beginning of this trial that the prosecution will conduct a trial by ambush. Deny all the evidence to the defence--Saiful's police statement, doctors' notes, etc. As everybody guessed and know that the prosecution was planning all along to change the evidence as the trial process based on what the defence said or did not say. In the past, we thought that these things only happen in Russia.
End of day, we all know the BN controlled police, judiciary, AG is out to nail Anwar. TDM will be very worried when the opposition wins as his whole family will have live in exile. His proxy now as PM is there to ensure that Anwar is nailed.
End of day, we all know the BN controlled police, judiciary, AG is out to nail Anwar. TDM will be very worried when the opposition wins as his whole family will have live in exile. His proxy now as PM is there to ensure that Anwar is nailed.
01 March 2011
Agong insult from Teoh RCI walkout is ‘nonsense’, says law expert
The boycott of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Teoh Beng Hock’s death by his family has nothing to do with the Agong, a constitutional law expert said today.
“The Agong has nothing to do with the RCI,” law professor Abdul Aziz Bari said in response to former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Shaik Daud Ismail’s claim today that Teoh’s family had disrespected the Agong by walking out of the inquiry.
“Shaik Daud is talking nonsense by claiming that the Teohs had insulted the Agong. It drags the royalty into the affair when the entire panel and process was put in motion by the prime minister,” said the International Islamic University Malaysia academic who specialises in constitutional monarchy.
Shaik Daud, who retired from the judiciary in 2001, said in a Bernama report that all parties involved should give the RCI due recognition and respect because it was set up on the command of the king.
Abdul Aziz told The Malaysian Insider that Shaik Daud’s comments were surprising for a former top-ranking judge as it showed a failure to understand the separation of powers under a constitutional monarchy.
“It’s like saying the envelopes used for government documents with Urusan Seri Paduka Baginda (On His Majesty’s Service) on them were sent by the King and can somehow be misused in an insulting way to the Agong,” he said.
Teoh’s sister, brother, parents and their two lawyers walked out of the RCI proceedings on February 16 after they failed to stay its proceedings, claiming the deputy public prosecutors that were acting as conducting officers would not be impartial.
The former political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah had fallen to his death on July 16, 2009 after being questioned by officers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission at their old offices in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam.
A 17-month-long coroner’s inquest had delivered an “open verdict” ruling out both suicide and homicide which then prompted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to form the commission in the face of public pressure.
Abdul Aziz also said that a judge should show empathy and sensitivity to the family of the deceased even if he did not agree with their actions.
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Still have faith in our judiciary? Frankly, I lost faith on them ever since the UMNO case and sacking of judges in the 80's
Karpal claims evidence obtained illegally in Sodomy II
Karpal Singh claimed today that illegal methods were used by the police to obtain items from a holding cell where Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was detained overnight on July 17, 2008.
Karpal, Anwar’s lead defence counsel, had raised objections to several items — a “Good Morning” towel, a toothbrush, a single strand of hair and a mineral water bottle — being used as evidence for the prosecution in the Sodomy II trial.
“We want this evidence to be ruled inadmissible, on the grounds that improper methods were used to secure these exhibits,” said the veteran lawyer.
Karpal said that a trial-within-a-trial was needed and would present his submissions tomorrow to validate the need for such a trial.
If trial judge Datuk Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah were to rule in favour of the defence, this means that Anwar himself will have to testify in court to give his account of what happened between July 16 and July 17, 2008.
“If the judge allows this, Anwar will go on the witness box and testify. But the prosecution can only ask him on the admissibility of evidence, nothing else,” Karpal told reporters later.
“If we have a trial-within-a-trial, if they can prove unfair methods were employed, (even) we don’t know what the unfair methods are,” argued lead prosecutor Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden in protest.
Mohd Zabidin said, however, that it was up to Anwar’s lawyers to establish the need for a trial-within-a-trial, and not the prosecution.
“That’s up to (the) defence to prove,” said the judge.
Karpal told reporters later that he wanted the items to marked from evidence (P) to ID.
Earlier today, several police officers, who were on duty at the lockup where Anwar was detained, testified that the PKR de facto leader was the only one held that night.
The police officers also maintained that none of the items were touched or moved from their original place in the lockup after Anwar had been released the following day.
DNA profiles have so far been obtained from the "Good Morning" towel, the toothbrush and the mineral water bottle.
Government chemist, Nor Aidora Saedon, testified last week that graph results showed that there were two main DNA profiles on the evidence samples — that of “Male Y” together with an unknown DNA profile.
She had already testified on February 23 that the DNA profiles found on the said items matched that of an unknown “Male Y”, whose sperm extracts had been found in Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s anus earlier.
The trial will resume tomorrow at 2.30pm with both sides presenting their submissions on the matter.
Saiful had complained that Anwar, his ex-boss, had sodomised him at a luxury condominium in upper-class Bukit Damansara here on June 26, 2008.
Saiful, now aged 25, has never named anyone else.
Anwar, the 63-year-old PKR de facto leader, is currently facing sodomy charges for the second time in his life.
He has denied the charge, describing it as “evil, frivolous lies by those in power” when the charge was read out to him.
He is charged under section 377B of the Penal Code and can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction. The trial is taking place 18 months after Anwar was charged in court in August 2008.
He was charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998 after he was sacked from the Cabinet and was later convicted and jailed for both offences.
He was freed in September 2004 and later resurrected his political career by winning back his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a by-election in 2008, which had been held in the interim by his wife.
He led the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, to a historic sweep of five states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.
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The Rakyat already knew why was Anwar arrested and put in the lock-up for overnight in order to get Anwar's DNA.
28 February 2011
Pua claims MRT rush job benefits MMC-Gamuda
The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) is running roughshod over public interest by ignoring concerns over the implementation of the Klang Valley Mass Rail Transit (MRT) project, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua charged today.
He said the “rushed-job” roll out of the estimated RM36.6 billion train line “raises suspicions that SPAD was just acting as hatchet men for the real party which designed the MRT alignment,” project delivery partner MMC-Gamuda.
“As the chairman of SPAD, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar must be taken to task for the poor delivery of the MRT proposal which appears designed to serve the commercial interest of Gamuda and MMC,” he said.
Pua (picture)referred to allegations that traffic modelling had not been carried out and asked how SPAD could have decided on placement of stations and alignment.
“Without such studies having been carried out, how did SPAD or any other authority for that matter decide on the placement of the stations and the alignment of the MRT track, which today is being made available for public ‘feedback and consultation’?” he said in a press statement.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP added that Syed Hamid had said that half of MRT commuters would also rely on buses but refused to detail how the government would ensure the two services would be integrated.
Noting that the Sungai Buloh Kajang (SBK) line would have a capacity of 40,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD), Pua said buses must carry 20,000 passengers just to feed the MRT, adding that the former minister’s failure to explain how this was to be achieved has left the public “completely in the dark.”
“How are the public and any other interest groups able to make objective assessments of the MRT project without such critical accompanying data?” he asked.
Pua had called on Wednesday for SPAD to provide details on how bus services would complement or provide an alternative to the MRT.
He had claimed that buses were integral even to Hong Kong and Singapore which have public transport utilisation of 90 and 60 per cent respectively compared to the Klang Valley’s 14 per cent.
Buses in Hong Kong and Singapore also cater for 50 and 62 per cent of total public transport ridership respectively, he said.
Pua called for Syed Hamid to stop giving excuses and accusing the opposition of “politicising the issue” and start providing answers to criticisms from various parties on “the alignment of the MRT, its cost effectiveness as well as the prioritisation of the MRT over bus services.”
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UMNO/BN government thought that the current cabinet ministers can appoint any one from the BN retired dead wood minister to head SPAD or any units and still feel that the scenario is still the same as 20, 15 or 15 years ago where BN can just bull thru. Even the BN component parties are useless as far as accountable, transparency & competency are concerned. Coming to fill the cronies pockets is the main concern.
UMNO/BN time is running out soon.
In Merlimau, BN sees return of Chinese votes
Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam yesterday said Barisan Nasional (BN) was confident of regaining the support of the Chinese community in the Merlimau by-election.
Mohd Ali told The Malaysian Insider BN has targeted an increase over the 40 per cent of Chinese support it received during the 2008 general election.
“I am confident that we [can] get additional votes from the Chinese electorate in the Merlimau state seat as I have seen positive and good response from the community.
“I think we can get more than 50 per cent of Chinese support, and if you look at the situation now where everybody is okay and happy,” he said after visiting a Chinese community in Kampung Chin Chin.
The Merlimau by-election was called following the death of Datuk Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hassan on January 20.
The seat’s electoral roll has 10, 679 votes, with 6,935 Malay voters, 2,218 Chinese voters and 1,510 Indians voters.
Pengkalan Samak and Merlimau Pasir will be highly contested as both districts constitute more than 1,000 Chinese votes.
Pengkalan Samak is also the biggest district and holds the town centre.
PAS election director Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman claimed on Saturday that the party has already captured 41 per cent of the Malay electorate in Merlimau.
The Pengkalan Chepa MP added the party needed another four per cent of Malay votes to ensure victory in the state seat.
Abdul Halim also said PAS was targeting 75 per cent of the Chinese votes and 40 per cent of Indian votes.
Yesterday, Mohd Ali dismissed the claims and accused PAS of making unfounded claims.
“PAS can say whatever it wants to say. It is an arrogant party and likes to spread allegations,” he said.
He added that PAS will not be able to fool the people of Malacca.
“The Malacca public knows that PAS likes to make slanderous accusations. I do not think that the people of Merlimau will give them much support. Maybe some will vote for PAS but not a lot,” he said.
Mohd Ali said PAS should not expect any free votes and questioned the party’s contributions to the state so far.
The chief minister also said that BN will win by a bigger majority, but did not reveal the target figure.
In 2008, the late Mohamad Hidhir retained the Merlimau state seat after he defeated PAS’s Jasme Tompang by a majority of 2,154 votes. In Election 2004, he won the seat by 5,087 votes.
Merlimau is located within the Jasin parliamentary constituency, a stronghold of BN, which won all the five state seats in Election 2008.
The by-election will see a straight fight between PAS’s Yuhaizat Abdullah and Umno’s Roslan Ahmad.
BN currently controls 23 seats in the Melaka assembly while DAP is the only opposition with five.
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I don't think Melaka chinese will out for BN under these not so smart CM with his threatening words.Come-on Merlimau voters teach Ali Rustam a lesson to vote for PAS.PAS for your future and move on to Putrajaya.
Chinese voters Dont be fooled by MCA - UMNO's running dog !!!! 52 years of discrimination by UMNO using MCA is ENOUGH!!!!
PAS blames Pahang MB for degree-buying rumour
Syed Ibrahim shows his fake degree to reporters....the stupid lol of UMNO....!!!
It was the Pahang mentri besar and not PAS who first started the speculation that the Kerdau Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate had bought his qualifications, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has said.
The PAS Kerdau election director said the issue only cropped up after Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob accused Pakatan Rakyat (PR) of claiming that Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad had bought his Al-Azhar University Arabic degree.
“It never cropped up before then. I think this is a political ploy to play with voter sentiment,” Tuan Ibrahim told reporters today.
He stressed that PAS has never raised this “personal matter”, and reiterated that the question of whether Syed Ibrahim graduated from Al-Azhar University was wholly the BN candidate’s own concern.
“For us, the issue of whether he passed or not is his business. It is not our business,” he said.
The PAS vice president said an investigation should be conducted to uncover who first started the degree-buying rumour, which he suggested could have originated from within Umno itself.
Tuan Ibrahim also promised that PAS will not engage in personal attacks during the Kerdau campaign as there were more pressing issues to deal with.
“We intend to expose issues that are of greater concern to the people,” he said.
PAS central working committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad concurred, pointing out that it was more important for voters here to decide who was better suited to tackle the lack of development in this rural constituency.
Allegations that Syed Ibrahim, popularly known as Syed Ibra, had lied about graduating from the prestigious Al-Azhar University surfaced in the week leading up to nomination day.
The BN candidate has been accused of lying about his qualifications, failing his studies and buying his degree from the second-oldest university in Cairo.
Adnan, however, said last week that he has seen Syed Ibrahim’s degree certificate, which the Kuala Krau deputy division chief later showed to Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the prime minister’s visit here yesterday.
Syed Ibrahim faces PAS’s Hassanuddin Salim for the Kerdau state seat, in the first by-election in Najib’s home state of Pahang.
The seat fell vacant after the death of Datuk Zaharuddin Abu Kassim from a heart attack on January 12.
There are 8,999 registered voters and 15 postal voters here, 89 per cent of whom are Malay, 5 per cent Chinese, 3.3 per cent Indian and 2.8 per cent others.
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