Illegal assembly case postponed again

Five years on and there is still no case against 43 activists charged with illegal assembly at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in 2008.

The Sessions Court today agreed to another postponement due to inconsistent record keeping.

Deputy public prosecutor Yusaini Emel said they have agreed with the defence team that they were not ready to proceed as court notes from the case, first brought to trial in 2009, were not in order.

Sessions Court judge Mat Ghani Abdullah has now set Jan 29 next year for case mention and a court's decision on whether there is a prima facie case will be made on Feb 11.

Mat Ghani already postponed hearing last month after the prosecution team complained that submissions were received late.

"We have already done our written submission and the defence counsel is ready to reply but there are complaints about incomplete handwritten notes of the courts," Yusaini told reporters outside the courtroom.

Originally, 45 persons were charged, including PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, former Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad (left), Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) chairperson Mohd Nasir Hashim, PSM secretary-general A Arutchelvan and former Malaysiakini journalist, Syed Jaymal Zahiid.

Two of the accused have passed away

Two of the accused have since passed away due to sickness, one suffered a heart attack and another had leukemia.

Most of them were charged with illegal assembly at the KLCC on Jan 26, 2008, in protest of a fuel price hike.

The case was presided over by Sessions Court judge Sekeri Mamat until Mat Ghani took over recently, after the former suffered a stroke.

“While it’s already towards the end of the case... this is where the problem comes. Another judge heard the case and now another judge will make the decision... so we have to make sure that the court notes are complete,” Yusaini said.

The accused were part of the Coalition against Inflation (Protes) and a PAS member, who asked not to be named, told Malaysiakini today that she was distressed that the case has dragged on for so long.

She said her passport has been held by the courts for last three years and she can’t leave Malaysia to visit her family in Thailand.

Except for about eight absentees, including a PSM member who has cancer and Batu MP Tian Chua, most of the others were present in court today.

Defence lawyer Roger Chan said that the options for the case now would be to rely on notes from the prosecution side or to go and listen to the court recordings again.

Then on Feb 11, after the notes are sorted out, the judge will hopefully decide again whether there is a need to call for their defence, he explained.

“If the prosecution does not make up a prima facie case, then the case is over. The defendants will be discharged,” Chan told Malaysiakini at the KL courthouse.