Corpun file 19818

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 20 November 2007

Convict vents anger on lensmen

By Rita Jong

P. Joseph taking aim at the photographers with his slipper after the proceedings at the High Court.

SHAH ALAM: A 49-year-old man sent his right slipper flying towards photographers when he became the centre of media attention.

P. Joseph, 49, was trying his best to avoid the flashbulbs but to no avail.

Luck was certainly not on the mechanic's side as earlier the High Court had ordered him to serve 10 years' in jail, three more than what the Klang Sessions Court had meted out for a sodomy charge.

In the appeal by the prosecution yesterday, judicial commissioner Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim allowed deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad's application to enhance the sentence.

In his submission, Muhammad Iskandar said the sentence meted by the lower court did not reflect the severity of the offence.

Joseph, however, admitted his mistake and said he had repented.

"I have been suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy and heart ailments for the past five years," he said, pleading with the court not to increase his jail term.

Abang Iskandar then asked: "You committed the offences even though you were ill?"

With that, he set aside the Sessions Court ruling and increased the jail term to 10 years. Abang Iskandar, however, upheld the three strokes of the rotan imposed on Joseph by the lower court.

On June 1, Joseph was sentenced to seven years' jail and ordered to receive three strokes of the rotan after he pleaded guilty to sodomising a 19-year-old male student. The jail term was to run from the date of his arrest on May 15.

Joseph admitted to committing the offence in a hut near a train station in Klang at 5.30pm on May 14.

Based on the facts, Joseph knew the victim, who was then working at a 7-Eleven store nearby. They went out for a meal but he later sodomised the student. Joseph then threatened the victim, saying that he had a lot of weapons.

Copyright © 2007 NST Online. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 19817

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 23 November 2007

43 years' jail, rotan for pimping, sexual abuse

By Jason Gerald John

MALACCA: A 32-year-old man will spend 43 years in jail for offences including procuring a 14-year-old girl for purposes of prostitution and causing miscarriage without the girl's consent. Baharudin Sidek, from Air Paabas in Alor Gajah, was also ordered by the Sessions Court yesterday to be given 20 strokes of the rotan and fined RM50,000.

He pleaded guilty to four charges, one under the Child Act and three under the Penal Code. The charges were:

- procuring the Form two girl for purposes of prostitution;
- causing miscarriage without the girl's consent;
- living on the earnings of the prostitution of another person; and
- inserting an object into the girl's vagina without her consent.

The offences were committed at a house in Taman Hilir in Ujong Pasir here between July and Sept 8.

For procuring the girl for purposes of prostitution Baharudin was sentenced to 10 years' jail, while for causing miscarriage he was sentenced to eight years' jail and fined RM20,000 or two years' jail.

He was sentenced to 15 years' jail and 10 strokes of the rotan for living on immoral earnings and 10 years' jail, 10 strokes and RM30,000 fine or two years' jail for inserting an object into the girl's vagina.

Baharudin, unemployed, has skin cancer and is a HIV carrier. He was first charged at Ward C3 of the Melaka General Hospital on Sept 24 as he was admitted to the hospital.

Baharudin's girlfriend, Norshapinah Mohamad, 22, from Paya Rumput, jointly faced with him two of the charges - procuring the girl for prostitution and causing miscarriage without the girl's consent. She was also charged with living on the earnings of the prostitution. She claimed trial to all the charges.

Judge Kamaruddin Kamsun fixed Jan 23 and 24 for hearing.

© Copyright 2007 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 19806

New Sunday Times, Kuala Lumpur, 25 November 2007

15 years for forging papers

By Deborah Loh

PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Court sentenced a 37-year-old Indonesian man to 15 years in jail and fined him RM60,000 for falsifying work permits and social visit passes. He was also sentenced to six strokes of the rotan. This was the harshest sentence ever meted out for this kind of offence. Because the sentences will run concurrently, Ramadhan Adjie Mohamad will only serve six years.

Ramadhan, who sold the forged permits and social visit pass stickers for RM3,000 each, was charged with forgery under the Immigration Act 1959 and the Passport Act 1966.

The offence under the Immigration Act states that any person who makes, forges or alters an endorsement or document to be used as a visa, pass or certificate, is liable to a fine of not less than RM30,000 or to a jail term of not less than five but not more than 10 years, and six strokes of the rotan.

Judge Ruzina Ayub of the Immigration Court at the Semenyih detention centre meted out the punishment.

In a separate case, Ruzina sentenced another Indonesian, 33-year-old Nurandi, to 48 months in jail for possession of 108 passports belonging to others.

Both Nurandi and Ramadhan were arrested on Nov 10 in an Immigration Department sweep.

Immigration enforcement chief Datuk Ishak Mohamed said the department had received information through Rela from foreign workers who had been duped by the two.

A taxi driver who is a Rela volunteer had picked up a passenger who told him of Ramadhan and Nurandi's illegal activities.

© Copyright 2007 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 19812

The Star, Kuala Lumpur, 27 November 2007

Ex-construction workers gets 10 years, 10 strokes of rotan

By Chan Li Leen

IPOH: A former construction worker was sentenced to 10 years' jail for possessing 428g of cannabis in Manjung five years ago.

S. Mahendran, 33, who is to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest on March 3, 2002, was also ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan by High Court judge Justice Muhamad Ideres Muhamad Rapee.

Mahendran, who was facing trial for drug trafficking, had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of drug possession when it was offered to him Tuesday.

He was said to have committed the offence at the 27th kilometre of the Ipoh-Lumut Road at about 3.30am on the day he was arrested.

According to the facts of the case, Mahendran was found with the drugs in a bag slung across his shoulder when stopped at a roadblock that day.

In pressing for a deterrent sentence, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Ishrakh Saad asked the court to take the interest and welfare of the public into consideration.

The sentence to be meted out, he said, should not only aim to punish but should be a form of crime prevention and warning to would-be offenders.

"The threat of drugs has been declared as the number one enemy of the country.

"It is a widespread crime, which leads to other forms of crime like robbery, murder and theft," said Ahmad Ishrakh.

The drugs that were in the possession of the accused, he added, had exceeded over three times the minimum weight provided under Section 39A(2)(f) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Defence counsel Gurbachan Singh during mitigation said the drugs that were in the possession of the accused were for his personal use as he was a drug addict then.

The accused, however, had been completely rehabilitated since his remand, he said.

"Public interest is served if the offender is given a second chance to turn over a new leaf," he added.

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