A Malaysian court convicted a prominent opposition lawmaker yesterday of biting a policeman at an illegal protest and sentenced him to six months in prison.
Tian Chua was found guilty in the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court on a charge of hurting a policeman who had tried to stop him from entering parliament in December 2007 to protest a constitutional amendment.
Magistrate Faizi Che Abu sentenced Chua to six months’ jail and fined him 3,000 ringgit (US$900), but put off the penalty until an appeal could be heard in a higher court.
The fine means Chua could eventually lose his parliament seat because legislators who are fined more than 2,000 ringgit (US$600) or serve a year in prison must vacate their seats.
Chua, a long-time ally of top opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and a senior official in Anwar’s People’s Justice Party, has denied biting the policeman.
“The charge is a malicious charge and politically motivated,” Chua told reporters. “We’ll continue to fight in a higher court. I maintain that I’m innocent.”
The policeman, Rosyaidi Anuar, accused Chua of biting his arm and spitting on him. His colleague testified that Rosyaidi had a red bruise on his arm after the incident.
Faizi ruled that Chua’s testimony had inconsistencies and was not credible.
“I hope that this will send a strong message to the public” that such offenses are unacceptable, Faizi said.
Government lawyer Hanafiah Zakaria denied that Chua was unfairly prosecuted.
“You can champion whatever cause you want, but you still have to respect the law,” he said.
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: Two of the men were shot by a male relative of the victims, whose families turned down the opportunity to offer them amnesty, the Supreme Court said Four men were yesterday publicly executed in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power. The executions in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most of them carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the center
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
The US will help bolster the Philippines’ arsenal and step up joint military exercises, Manila’s defense chief said, as tensions between Washington and China escalate. The longtime US ally is expecting a sustained US$500 million in annual defense funding from Washington through 2029 to boost its military capabilities and deter China’s “aggression” in the region, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview in Manila on Thursday. “It is a no-brainer for anybody, because of the aggressive behavior of China,” Teodoro said on close military ties with the US under President Donald Trump. “The efforts for deterrence, for joint resilience
RSS