The Star, Kuala Lumpur, 9 October 1997

Man jailed 25 years for having firearms

KOTA KINABALU: An unemployed man was jailed 25 years by the Sessions Court here yesterday after he pleaded guilty to three counts of illegal arms possession.

William Victor Kolis, 33, will only serve 10 years as judge Aktar Tahir ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

Aktar also ordered that Kolis be given 12 strokes of the rotan and be under police supervision for a year after serving his sentence.

Kolis had admitted having two Smith and Wesson pistols and 158 bullets and 41 spent shells at an unnumbered house in Kampung Bahang, Penampang, near here on Jan 18.

Each charge is under Section 8 (Increased Penalties) of the Arms Act 1971, which carries a jail term of up to 14 years and not less that six strokes of the rotan.

He was also charged under Section 8(a) of the Act, which carries a maximum seven years' jail or RM10,000 fine or both upon conviction for having the bullets and spent shells.

New Zealand Truth & TV Extra, 10 October 1997

Horror of the lash

500 lashes a death sentence

(Extracts)

FLOGGED druggie Aaron Cohen has urged a nurse facing 500 lashes in a Saudi jail to "grin and bear it -- don't let them see you're scared or in pain."

But Cohen fears the ordeal will kill Briton Lucille McLauchlan -- also jailed for eight years after being found guilty of being an accessory in the murder of Australian nurse Yvonne Gilford.

Today Cohen relives his own ordeal and breaks his year-long silence on his 1991 flogging in a Malaysia jail.

"If the lashing facing Lucille McLauchlan is similar to that I took then no one could stand 500. You couldn't stand 50.

She's been handed a flogging -- it's really a death sentence.

I saw on guy get 24. That was the most I ever saw. He was in hospital for six months. They had to take skin off his legs and put it back on his bum.

.......

I got six. It's just incredible pain. More like a burning -- like someone sticking an iron on your bum. That's the sort of feeling. Pain -- just ultimate pain.

They tie you up. If they didn't you would just f........ run. You wouldn't care. An elephant would run.

There's a wooden A-frame. They tie you to it. Your arms are above your head. Your legs are spread and tied.

Then there is a pillow or something under your stomach and against the A-frame so your butt sticks out.

In my case somebody held my head so it was turned away from the guy who was whacking me. I knew who it was but the object is you're not supposed to know who is giving the rotan.

But there are only four or five warders who give it.

There is only supposed to be a superintendent, a doctor, and a couple of warders who are watching. But on the day of a flogging any of the warders will go up and have a look.

There could be about 50 people watching you have the shit beaten out of you. All having a laugh. It's like sport to them, especially when I had it. Y'know, let's go and see the white kid get his hiding.

There had been other whites rotaned but only a couple. Most of the others had been hanged.

They need a doctor because some people faint after two or three strokes. I didn't faint. I wish I could have.

It was only through pride that I didn't let myself faint.

It impresses the guards.

.........

In Malaysia the only part of the body to be whipped is the buttocks. Protective padding is placed over the kidneys and legs.

The strokes came at the rate of one a minute -- but it seemed like a lifetime to me.

I waited and waited for the first one and as soon as I let my breath out -- "Baamm."

Afterwards my bum looked like a side of beef. There was three lines of raw skin with blood oozing out.

I was a bit unsteady on my feet when they untied me. Two guards started to help me, but I told them to leave me alone and walked back unaided. The other guys said it really helped to see that.

They thought if a skinny guy like me could stand it, then they could too.

Watery antiseptic was applied at the prison sick bay and I got two Panadol for the pain.

No one stays in the hospital because there's nobody there to help you. You totally rely on your friends. They help you bathe and get food.

I was really lucky, because I knew people who got hold of medicine from outside.

You can't sleep and can only walk like a duck. Your whole backside is three or four times bigger -- swollen, black and blue.

I made a full recovery within a month and am left with only slight scarring.

Emotionally, I'm okay. I haven't had any nightmares about that day, although I'm starting to dream about the prison."

Previous: 27 June 1996 - Magazine's $20,000 offer to Cohens obscene -- MP

The Star, Kuala Lumpur, 20 October 1997

Youth gets jail and whipping for ganga possession

KUALA TERENGGANU: A youth was jailed eight years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan by the High Court here yesterday for possession of 23kg of ganja.

Mohamed Baidillah Mohamed Zain, 20, of Rantau Panjang, pleaded guilty to committing the offence at Seberang Marang at 11.45pm on Jan 3 last year.

The court was told that the car driven by Mohamed Baidillah was involved in an accident with a car belonging to a police personnel at a temporary bridge.

When Mohamed Baidillah's car was examined, the 24 slabs of ganja were found in the boot.

In passing sentence, Justice Datuk Saari Yusuff said that he had taken into account Mohamed Baidillah's age and the seriousness of the offence.

Saari said he could not order Mohamed Baidillah to be sent to the Henry Gurney School as he was already three months past the age of 20 and a little old for the school which accepts boys for a few years of rehabilitation until they are 21.