Malaysian court rejects bid to stay proceedings for Najib to be called

SHAH ALAM (July 23, 2008): The Shah Alam High Court today rejected an application to stay all proceedings of the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial to recall prosecution witness P. Balasubramaniam and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak following a statutory declaration filed by the former on July 1.
The application filed by Karpal Singh, who is holding a watching brief for Altantuya's family and the Mongolian government, was rejected on the grounds that those represented by Karpal were not a party to the trial.
"In my mind, they are excluded as they have no locus standi on the matter," said Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.
In making the decision, he said: "Section 425 of Criminal Procedure Code is divided into two limbs.
"The first limb is discretionary and can be made upon application, while the second is imperative when the court feels it is essential to the justice of the case."
In rejecting the application, he said under the first limb, it must be made by the parties of the trial; the victim, he added, is excluded. – MORE

Malaysia deputy PM must testify in Mongolian murder trial: lawyer

Agence France-Presse - 7/22/2008 9:22 AM GMT
A top Malaysian lawyer Tuesday demanded the country's deputy premier be summoned as a witness in the gruesome murder of a Mongolian woman with whom he has been linked.
Karpal Singh, who is holding a watching brief for the family of the slain 28-year old Altantuya Shaariibuu filed a court notice to compel Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and two other policemen to testify.
"It is necessary because Najib's evidence is needed for the just decision of this case because of the role that he is said to have played," Karpal told AFP.
"It has taken a different turn altogether and all this while he has been denying everything but all these matters have to be cleared," he said.
Karpal also asked the court to summon private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to give evidence in the murder case after his sworn statement last month, linking Najib to Altantuya, which he swiftly retracted.
Balasubramaniam, who went missing after his explosive statements is in hiding in a neighbouring Southeast Asian country, police have said.
"He is a key prosecution witness. He says he was not asked about these details by the prosecutors and that is why they were not revealed in court," Karpal said.
"The court should now order that he be recalled as a witness to explain these claims," he said.
"Otherwise the court will be in a position where they would have to ascertain his credibility, but more importantly whether the evidence he gave earlier was correct."
Altantuya was murdered in 2006 and her body blown up with explosives in a remote forest and Najib's close friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, who had hired the investigator in the lead up to her death, is on trial for abetting the murder.
Najib has denied the allegations, saying never met the model.
The prosecution wrapped up their case last month and the judge will hear submissions from the defence on Wednesday at the Shah Alam High Court in central Selangor state.

Expats go to court over 'dream homes'

An expatriate, who bought what he thought was his beach-front dream house, is taking his nightmare to court.

Roger Crowhurst, a 65-year-old journalist for a four-wheel-drive magazine, his wife from Sabah, Nyuk Ling@Semenanjit, and four other expatriate couples filed an application for judicial review against the Papar district council and the Local Government and Housing Ministry.

They are looking to have the respondents take responsibility for their homes in the Palm Beach Villas in Kinarut, which have been left in a dilapidated state. "We have been trying to get our developer to look into various aspects of our living conditions such as general maintenance, safety and common facilities servicing these villas, but they have declared themselves free of responsibility," said Crowhurst.

He said basic facilities such as lighting, road, drainage, security, garbage disposal, sea defence, and common facilities of the residential area had not been taken care of. The judicial review seeks to get the two respondents to take up the duties in respect to all the safety and administrative functions of the housing residence.

It also seeks to get the ministry to replace the management of the Papar district council and appoint a party to repair or demolish the boardwalk servicing the housing residence which had become dilapidated and hazardous. "When we bought the place, we were promised a paradise, but now it is not even decent living. "The boardwalk is damaged from coastal erosion, the beams are falling apart, the lights are out, no one is sweeping the debris on the road or collecting the rubbish, and no one is taking responsibility for all this.

"Everyone we approach says they are not responsible for our problems. We feel abandoned and after spending our hard-earned cash on these properties, we are getting a very raw deal," said Crowhurst. Rodney Parsons, a 60-year-old helicopter engineer who in here under the Malaysia My Second Home programme said that he was disappointed with the shoddy treatment from the authorities.

"We have asked several people to help with the repairs for six months, but nothing is being done," he said.

Source: http://www.emedia.com.my/detailnews.php?nid=918&cid=N01