Sabah terrorism trial starts Sept 17 16 July 2013 LAHAD DATU INTRUSION: 50 prosecution witnesses to testify KOTA KINABALU: THE High Court yesterday set Sept 17 to 27 for the joint trial of 30 people charged with various offences in relation to the Lahad Datu intrusion. Judge Ravinthran Paramaguru said the length of the trial would enable 50 prosecution witnesses to testify. For security reasons, Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, who leads the prosecution team, had proposed that the Police Field Force Brigade Command headquarters in Kinarut, about 25km from here, be the venue for the trial. "To bring the accused to the court complex here, they had to be escorted by more than 100 security personnel and this had caused traffic congestion. "Therefore, we request that the Police Field Force Brigade Command headquarters be used as a location for the trial and for it to be turned into an open court. The public can attend the proceedings after going through security checks," Gani told the court. Assigned defence counsel Ronny Cham, Ram Singh, Zakaria Ahmad, Teressa Sirri and Abdul Ghani Zelika told the court that their clients -- Ismail Yasin, Basad Manuel, Binhar Salip, Anwar Salib and Atik Hussin -- wanted new lawyers to represent them. They produced a letter to the effect before Ravinthran who said since he had not read the letters, the five accused were to be represented by the assigned counsel. The letter was addressed to Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum. On 27 June, 29 individuals, including a woman pleaded not guilty in the High Court here on charges of waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, being members of a terrorist group, recruiting people as terrorists and harbouring terrorists. Among them was Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, nephew of the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram. They were charged under Section 121 of the Penal Code for waging war against the King between Feb 9 and March 23 in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu. They face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted. On July 12, another accused -- Habil Suhaili -- pleaded not guilty to being a member of a terrorist group at the Tawau High Court. Twenty-two accused, who are Filipinos, will be represented by International Criminal Court counsel Datuk N. Sivananthan who was appointed by the Philippines government through its embassy. New Straits Times
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:40:03 +0000
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