A Bangladeshi defence witness, in his first day of testimony, told the magistrate court today that he was slapped when he refused to remove his underwear upon arrival at the Semenyih illegal immigrants detention camp.

"They asked me to take off my shirt, pants and underwear. But I did not take off my underwear. I told them being a Muslim, I couldn't do that," Zakair Hossain said through an interpreter.

"When I refused, one of the policemen slapped me four times. It was very painful but I did not scream," Zakair, 37, added when testifying in the "false news" trial of Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez.

Asked by defence counsel M. Puravalen what he did after being slapped, Zakair said: "I took off my underwear because I was so terrified. A Bangladeshi captain who was present told me that if I did not comply with the police orders, they would beat me up again."

Zakair also told the court that he and 71 other Bangladeshis had to endure a 10-hour journey by foot through a jungle to get across to Malaysia from Thailand in 1994.

"We started off our at about 8pm and reached our destination after 5am the following day," he said, adding that they were accompanied by a Thai national.

He, however, could not recall the names of the places in Thailand and Malaysia.

Asked how he knew that they had arrived in Malaysia, Zakair replied, "The person who brought us here told us we were in Malaysia."

He added that they then spent a whole night in the jungle in Malaysia.

"At night, one Malaysian agent came and took us from that place and we were brought to Klang by van. We left the jungle at 7.30pm and reached Klang at 8am," he said.

There were about 15 to 18 Bangladeshis cramped into one van, he recalled.

"We got a very small van and there was no place for us to sit. We lay down, all of us. There were no seats in the rear of the van," Zakair said.

He added that he was then taken to a house where his brother-in-law was staying.

"In the afternoon, after lunch, I was taken to a factory by my brother-in-law. I started working in that factory the next day. The factory was Sin Soon Hoe," he said.

Asked to elaborate further, Zakair said he started working in the factory as a parts cleaner on Nov 16, 1994. He added that about a week later, the police raided the factory and arrested him.

"I was arrested with some Bangladeshi and Thai nationals. I was told that I did not have any valid travel documents. From the factory, we were taken to the Klang police station by a police van," he said, adding that he waited in the police station for two hours before being sent to the Semenyih camp.

Earlier, he told the court that he decided to come to Malaysia in March, 1994 after being assisted by his brother-in-law.

"I was unemployed, and before March,1994, I decided to do something on my own. I started my own business but I could not do well. That's why my brother-in-law asked me to come here," he said.

He said he handed over RM5,000 to his brother-in-law, who was also an agent.

"I flew from Dhaka to Don Muang airport, Bangkok on Nov 8, 1994. I came along with 14 other Bangladeshis and the agent, Bilal Hossain," he added.

He also said that they then took a bus to Kuala Pur train station in Thailand, and spent a night in a hotel there.

"Next afternoon at 1.30pm, we were taken to Hadyai by train. We reached there the following morning at 6.30am and my brother-in-law handed us over to another agent named Elias," he said.

He told the court that he then stayed in a hotel in Hadyai for two days, before being taken to Golok by bus. From Golok, they travelled to the jungle by van and then set foot for Malaysia.

Defence counsel Puravalen then sought permission from the magistrate to ask the witness on the legality of his travel documents when coming into Malaysia and proposed that the witness should not be incriminated.

The magistrate granted immunity.

Puravalen: I am going to ask you a question, but you he won't be liable for any prosecution for the answers that you give to the court as the court has granted you immunity. When you crossed over to Malaysia, did you have your passport with you?

Zakair: Yes.

Puravalen: Obviously, you have entered into the country illegally and you would agree that in any event, you entered into the country illegally because your passport has not been duly processed.

Zakair: Yes, I agree.

Puravalen: Just one more question on the passport issue, did you have a valid Bangladesh passport?

Zakair: Yes, my passport was valid.

Zakair is the third former detainee to testify in the trial. The trial, which ran into its 237th day today, is the longest trial in the country's legal history.

Fernandez is being charged with "maliciously publishing false news" after she released a memorandum about tortures and deaths in the illegal immigrants detention camps at a press conference in August, 1995.

The women rights activist and KeADILan supreme council member faces three years in prison if convicted. She is currently out on bail.