Defence to apply to disqualify judge: Malaysia 'exports' Sodomy II

Defence to apply to disqualify judge
Hospital Kuala Lumpur forensic pathologist Dr Siew Sheue Feng is being cross-examined for the second day by Anwar Ibrahim's defence team.

During yesterday's hearing, the witness was asked to bring a copy of HKL's protocol for sexual assault victims.

Siew has so far avoided referring to his clinical notes despite being the physician responsible for recording the medical history of complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The court had yesterday denied Anwar access to the clinical notes, but the defence attempted to elicit information from the notes if by getting the doctors to refer to them during their cross-examination, which they have consistently refused to do so.

The HKL doctor had also earlier testified that photographs were taken during Saiful's medical examination, but none of which had so far been produced in court. The photographs are being kept by the police.

Following Siew's cross-examination, the third HKL doctor, Dr Khairul Nizam Hassan, will be next to be questioned by the defence.

LIVE REPORTS

8.29am: All the defence lawyers and prosecutors are already in court, including solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden and his DPPs, Karpal Singh, CV Prabhakaran and Sankara Nair.

Also in court is Australian forensic specialist Dr David Wells, who is there to advise the defence team.

The courtroom is still relatively empty, with no signs of the foreign reporters. Anwar has yet to arrive.
8.44am: Anwar arrives with wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
8.45am: Court called into session with High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah presiding.
8.48am: Hospital Kuala Lumpur forensic pathologist Dr Siew Sheue Feng shows samples of the HKL's sexual assault form.

The witness said he filled similar forms for Saiful.

Sankara applies for Siew to bring the forms which he filled out on Saiful to court, but the witness said he would do it orally.
8.51am: Karpal objects, he says the witness should never be allowed to testify based on his memory.

Yusof, in reply, says this is trite law. "You can ask the witness and if he so chooses, the answer will be based on memory."

Boos, thugs and cacophony at Pontian forum: Teo vs Dr. 'Porn' Chua Junior

Civility took the back seat in a forum entitled titled 'What kind of government does the people want' in Pontian, Johor last night which saw a DAP speaker being escorted out of the venue for 'safety reasons' while MCA claims that they were harassed by a group of thugs.

The forum turned into a showdown of sorts between MCA and DAP supporters - the two groups combined, made up about 1,000 people - who filled up the hall at an independent school in Pontian.

The speakers at the event were Deputy Agricultural and Agro-Based Industries Minister Chua Tee Yong (left), Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching - both Chua and Teo hail from Johor but are on opposite sides of the political divide - the former, also the MCA central committee member and the latter, DAP assistant national publicity secretary. Another speaker was prominent political commentor Koh Kok Wee.

During the forum, there were heated exchanges between Chua and Teo. The atmosphere was described as tense, but under control and eye-witnesses claim that Teo, who was formerly a lawyer and member of the Universiti Malaya Chinese debate team, had the upper hand against Chua, who was formerly a chartered accountant.

Saiful's rectum had nothing but semen after not defecating for about 54 hrs!!

UPDATED 6.40PM Semen samples were found in Saiful's rectum that was empty despite him not defecating for about 54 hours.

Semen can remain in rectum for 72 hours, court told

UPDATED @ 06:19:15 PM 22-11-2010

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

November 22, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — A Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) surgeon who examined Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan claimed today that seminal fluids can remain in a person’s rectum up to 72 hours after being sodomised.

“When a person ejaculates into the anus, how long would the fluids remain in anus area before it trickles down?” asked lead prosecutor Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden.

“About 72 hours,” was the answer given by the bespectacled doctor.

Saiful had alleged that he was sodomised by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on June 26, 2008. He went to HKL for a check on June 28, less than 72 hours after he alleged that he had been sodomised.

Dr Razali Ibrahim told the court he inspected Saiful’s anus 54 hours after the alleged act took place.

However, the doctor maintained that upon examination he found that Saiful’s rectum was empty despite the fact that Saiful had complained that he had not defecated since he was sodomised.

Dr Razali said that the likelihood of seminal fluids remaining in the rectum depended on a person’s anal functions, or when a “mass movement” occurs.

“In some cases, you can still get samples within the 72 hours as the anal canal is not straight,” said the doctor.

The general surgeon also said it was still possible for a person to pass motion and still retrieve seminal fluids from the rectum, as some samples may remain “stuck” there.

This was refuted by Anwar’s defence team, when Sankara Nair asked Dr Razali whether he had the right authority to make such a statement.

The doctor then agreed with Sankara, saying that it was based on his “readings” but he could not recall which documents he had referred which led him to make the conclusion.

“When I did the examination, I did not know what to expect or whether I would find any samples,” said Dr Razali.

He also maintained that Saiful’s rectum was faeces-free, refuting suggestions by the defence that Saiful’s rectum could not be empty if he had not defecated for two days.

“It is not necessary there be faeces in the rectum area... I agree, at that time when I examined Saiful, there was no faeces,” said the doctor.

The trial then continued with the cross-examination of HKL forensic pathologist Dr Siew Sheue Feng, who was fiercely grilled by the defence team within minutes after taking the witness stand.

Dr Siew told the court that there were no signs of injury to Saiful’s anus upon examination, saying that he took down a “detailed” history of Saiful.

Confusion occurred when Dr Siew was asked to explain the medical history of Saiful, whereby Dr Siew kept on repeating the fact that a medical examination was conducted on Saiful after he “complained” of being sodomised by a high-profile public figure.

Sankara and Karpal Singh both took turns to question the timid-looking doctor, who was unable to provide clear answers to the questions directed at him.

Dr Siew’s inability to answer the defence’s questions also prompted Karpal to accuse the doctor of being “programmed” to answer the questions with prepared answers.

The trial will resume tomorrow morning, where the cross-examination of Dr Siew will continue.

Anwar, the 62-year-old PKR de facto leader, is currently facing sodomy charges for the second time in his life.

The former deputy prime minister is charged with sodomising Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara here between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

Anwar 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 had two years ago led the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, to a historic sweep of five states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.

For MCA, self comes first! MCA can't even fight for Chinese, let alone the public!

Guan Eng slams Kong over guarantee for rail project

By Boo Su-Lyn

November 20, 2010

PETALING JAYA, Nov 20 — Lim Guan Eng has accused Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha of favouring private companies above the public by questioning the guarantee from the Penang Electrified Double Track Project (EDTP) contractor on flooding.

The Penang Chief Minister pointed out that the Transport Ministry had issued guarantee letters to private companies in the RM12.85 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“Kong Cho Ha should explain what is wrong for MMC-Gamuda JV Sdn Bhd to give letters of guarantee protecting the public against floods when the Transport Ministry can issue letters of guarantee to private companies embroiled in the RM 12.85 billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal?” said Lim in a statement today.

“Or are private companies more important than the public?” he asked.\

Last November, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had recommended that former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang must be investigated for criminal breach of trust in the PKFZ scandal.

The PAC found both Chan and Phang to have breached the Financial Procedure Act 1957 by issuing three letters of support and three letters of undertaking without the approval of the Finance Ministry.

According to the PAC, the Attorney-General had said that the three support letters issued by Chan and the three letters of undertaking issued by the general manager of PKA were an implicit government guarantee that PKA would be allowed to fulfil its obligations under the PKFZ development agreement.

Kong, however, has recently insisted that Penang should not have issued the stop-work order on the RM13 billion project in the first place, despite Lim lifting the order two days ago after receiving a guarantee letter from MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd.

Lim said the contractor had agreed in writing to bear all losses in the event of a flood caused by the project, as well as to demolish structures that caused water to overflow during floods.

“Kong’s insistence that the stop-work order should not have been issued in the first place because the contractor can give any briefings, misses the critical point of protecting public interest with written letters of guarantee,” said Lim.

“To date, the contractor has been co-operative and not protested when the stop-work order was issued. Only Kong has protested,” added the DAP secretary-general.

Lim defended his insistence on a written guarantee from the contractor, pointing out that normal flood control measures taken by the double-track railway project contractor in Kedah had failed to mitigate the impact of the flood.

“The state government has thereby chosen to adopt an aggressive pro-active approach in flood crisis management by adopting pre-emptive measures aimed at either avoiding a mitigating the adverse impact,” he said.

“Kong should realize that the peole’s homes, livelihood and billions of ringgit in investments high-tech industrial parks in Prai and Bukit Minyak are at stake,” he added.

He also denied Kong’s accusations that Penang was purposely obstructing Putrajaya by refusing to co-operate with the federal government on mega projects.

“Such attacks are baseless as the state government would not have otherwise approved this RM13 billion project,” said Lim.

The Penang chief minister then pronounced an end to the verbal war, saying: “The matter is closed when the contractor has fully complied with the state government’s requirement of a written guarantee.”

Photocopy Romance: A Love Story Told at 325 Photocopies Per Minute

Cops killed youths on purpose, says lawyer - Street no longer safe for kids!

Cops killed youths on purpose, says lawyer

UPDATED @ 02:00:12 PM 20-11-2010

By Boo Su-Lyn

November 20, 2010

PETALING JAYA, Nov 20 — The families of two of the three youths shot dead on November 13 after being suspected of robbing a petrol station claimed that they were killed by police in cold blood. Mohd Shamil Hafiz Shapiei, 15, Hairul Nizam Tuah, 20, and Mohd Hanafi Omar, 22, were shot dead by the police after a reported high-speed car chase in the early morning of November 13 in Glenmarie, Shah Alam.
“This was a gangland-style execution by police officers,” said lawyer N. Surendran (picture), who represented Shamil’s and Hairul’s families, at a press conference at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters today.
“We have gathered enough evidence,” he added.
The lawyer said the latest shooting underscored the importance of a royal commission of inquiry, following the case of 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah who was fatally shot by the police in Shah Alam on April 26.
“No child is safe on our streets. Any child out early in the morning is liable to be shot by the police,” said Surendran.
Selangor acting police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan reportedly defended his officers’ actions by describing the three suspected robbers as “seasoned criminals” who were allegedly involved in at least three armed robberies in Selangor last week.
He claimed that the police shot the suspects in self-defence as they had allegedly rushed to attack the policemen with machetes after a car chase at about 4.10am on November 13.
Surendran, however, dismissed such claims as lies.
“This is a lie by the police,” said the human rights lawyer.
He pointed out that based on the families’ observations of the bodies, Shamil, Hairul and Hanafi each sported two gunshot wounds on their heads and chests.
“All three were shot in the head and chest with bullets exiting lower,” said Surendran.
“This shows the shots were fired at close range, which is inconsistent (with police claims) that the shots were fired in self-defence,” he added.
The lawyer also said the trajectory of the bullets on Hairul’s body indicated that Hairul’s shooter had shot him from a higher position.
“This indicates that the victims were kneeling. Hairul also had a black eye,” said Surendran.
“Shamil was shot directly in the centre of his forehead,” he added.
The lawyer said the families’ legal team would seek the opinion of forensic pathologists on the case.
“We’ll ask for an appointment with forensic pathologists from Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang,” said Surendran.

Norhafizah breaks down in tears at the police station.

He added that Shamil’s and Hairul’s families are demanding for the policemen responsible for the youths’ deaths to be suspended and charged with murder. “The families want the policemen suspended and charged for the offence of murder. This was blue murder by the police,” said Surendran.
“They also want an apology for accusing them (the youth) of being criminals,” said the lawyer.
Both families filed police reports at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters today, claiming that the two boys were murdered by the police.
“Tomorrow is Shamil’s birthday,” said his mother Norhafizah Mad Razali, before breaking down in tears.
In her police report, the 36-year-old businesswoman said her son did not have any criminal record and did not know how to drive a car.
“My son was a good boy who went for religious classes,” said Norhafizah.
Meanwhile, Subang MP R. Sivarasa called for an independent investigation into the deaths and for the police officers to be charged.
“We’ll ask the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry. I’ll bring this up in Parliament,” said Sivarasa.
“But the first step is to charge those murderers. How many more cases like this do we have to see?” he asked.
Besides Aminulrasyid, a second case involving the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Mohd Afham Arin in Johor Baru on October 20 last year has also surfaced after the victim’s mother recently demanded an independent commission to investigate the case.
According to human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), 88 people died in police shootings last year.
The NGO also claimed that not even one police officer was held accountable and that the high number of deaths in 2009 was “alarming”, considering that there were only 13 such cases in the previous two years.

“We need a royal commission (of inquiry),” he added.

Will the 'Kampung WiFi' end up like the 'netbooks for rural folks' scheme??!

Cellular telephone coverage in the rural areas of Malaysia is expected to reach 97 percent by 2012 with the installation of 873 new telecommunication towers -this was part of the government's on-going effort to provide better cellular coverage in the remote areas as the technology had provided connectivity, and was changing and uplifting the socio-economic status of rural folk., said Informationn Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim.

He said in ramping up efforts to provide service coverage in rural areas, Wi-Fi Internet service is being used to provide 'Kampung WiFi' to the people to accelerate broadband take-up in the country and also to bring the benefits of broadband to the people.

Will this 'Kampung WiFi' project end up like the netbook project - the alleged USP misappropriation - that was highlighted by Malay Mail recently?

Here is the allegation made by Sekinchan assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim with regards to 1Malaysia Computer programme launched earlier this year under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

BN leaders help themselves to free laptops in 1Malaysia program

Ng Suee Lin- cronyism and favoritism

A Selangor state assembly backbencher has accused BN grassroots leaders of abusing the 1Malaysia Computer programme by eating into the quota set aside for secondary school students and the needy.

Sekinchan assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim  said he has received numerous complaints of favouritism and cronyism in the approval of the free laptops under the programme, launched earlier this year under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Waving a list of names of people who have allegedly received the free laptops, Ng claimed that many on the list include division leaders and of the various BN component parties including Umno, MCA and Gerakan.

"All these names do not fulfil the set criteria," he said when debating the Selangor state budget 2011.

Ng pointed out that free laptop recipients under the programme need to fulfill four criteria which include household income must be under RM3,000, the family does not have a computer, the family must have children in Forms One to Five, and each family is entitled to only one laptop.

"After going through the list, it turns out that the main condition is that as far as possible it must go to Umno, MCA, Gerakan and BN members.

"I am shocked with the way in which such contributions are distributed, which does not reflect transparency, instead using the programme solely to fulfil the agenda and political interests of Umno and BN," he said.