The trial of a trio charged with torching the Metro Tabernacle Church in January kicked off today at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, with two eyewitnesses providing contradictory testimony.

Mohd Tarmizi Yaakob, 21, a security guard at the National Film Development Corporation store located 100m from the church, told the court that he saw six persons on three Honda EX5 motorcycles on the night of Jan 7.

He said they rode around the area before stopping in front of the church about 11.45pm.

azlan "They went round the church two or three times, making a few stops in front of it. They looked like Malays, aged around 25," he said.

He heard them breaking the glass on the front door of the church, and then saw a fire on the premises.

However, electrician Yong Choy Yee, 34, disputed this version of events. He said he was in his girlfriend’s car, parked 20-30m from the church at the time.

He testified that he saw seven to eight people approaching the church on foot around midnight.

“I did not see any motorbikes in front of the church. They were walking,” he said, noting that they looked like “Malays or Indonesians” although he could not see their faces.

 

NONE Two or three of them carried wooden sticks slightly longer than a baseball bat, and used these to break the glass on the front door, Yong told the court.

Others carried "something like petrol in a pail" and threw it inside the church, causing the fire.

Yong also said the T-shirt and hair of one of the men caught fire, causing him to take off his shirt and throw it on the street.

Tarmizi had earlier claimed that the individuals were not holding anything, and that no one was burnt in the incident.

Yong said the group left the place on foot, while Tarmizi said two of them rode away on a motorcycle.

Both prosecution witnesses could not recognise the three accused when asked to identify them in court.

25 witnesses lined up

The trial, which is presided over by judge SM Komathy Suppiah, saw five other witnesses on the stand today.

Security guard at the church V Mariappan, 69, testified that he missed the crucial moment of the incident, as he was in the toilet of a canteen located beside the church.

He heard a loud explosion after he came out of the toilet. By the time he rushed to the front of the church, it had caught fire and the perpetrators had fled.

Chua Chun Kee, an investigator and chemist from the fire and rescue services department, confirmed that traces of petrol were found from samples taken at the scene of the incident.

He said the police gave him three samples, of which two were found to be petrol positive when he analysed them.

Two more eyewitnesses will testify when the hearing resumes tomorrow, along with a doctor who examined one of the accused.

In all, the prosecution led by DPP Azlina Rasdi, has lined up 25 witnesses.

NONE Brothers Raja Mohamad Faizal Raja Ibrahim ( left ), 24, and Raja Mohamad Idzham, 22, and their friend, Azuwan Shah Ahmad, 23, are charged with several others still at large with committing mischief by torching the church at No 28, Jalan 4/4C, Desa Melawati, at 11.50pm on Jan 7, 2010.

They are charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code which is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in jail and a fine on conviction.

The trio were hospitalised for severe burns believed to be sustained when the crime was committed, leading to their subsequent arrest on Jan 20.

The church was the first of a series of places of worship targeted for retaliation, following a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision that the use of ‘Allah’ is not prohibited to non-Muslims. The ruling was on an application filed by Catholic weekly Herald .