Friday, December 20, 2024

DNAA the about 28,000 of 87,000 in prison who are yet to be tried,convicted or sentenced? The Attorney General/Public Prosecutor should use this power in these cases...to ensure JUSTICE be done?

Is there a shortage of Judges and Courts in Malaysia - this is a serious problem when so many persons charged in criminal courts have to WAIT TOO LONG for their trials to be over...

WORSE -  Only those who have tried, convicted and sentenced should be in Malaysian Prisons - but the reality is that there are about 28,000 in Malaysian prisons now who have yet to be TRIED, convicted and sentenced. What if they are found NOT GUILTY at the end - GROSS INJUSTICE.

Takiyuddin told Dewan Rakyat while talking about remand prisoners, who make up about 28,000 of the 87,000 inmates currently housed in prisons nationwide which have a maximum capacity of 74,000.

WORSE - Malaysia will NOT EVEN Compensate them for their loss of liberty and incarceration..because we still do not have a CRIMINAL Compensation law or scheme, that will give these ultimately found INNOCENT persons...some compensation for their loss of liberty, loss of income and loss of family life, etc..

How many of the 28,000 have not even had their trials start...???

Is the DELAY  a means of 'torture' to force the Innocent to Plead Guilty... The choice is wait for the TRIAL to be over, which may take years, OR simply Plead Guilty Now(Irrespective of the Fact that one is Innocent) so that one can quickly be sentenced, and out of JAIL sooner.

Many a INNOCENT person end up pleading GUILTY so that they will be sentenced, and know that after serving their sentence, they will OUT Free..

Wonder how many of those that ended up in prison waiting for their trial to start and/or ended up CHOOSING to change their 'NOT GUILTY plea" to a Guilty PLEA although innocent...BECAUSE the trial was taking just too long. They wanted to move on with their life as soon as possible - get back to family/life.

WHO ARE THESE 28,000?  

1.    Well, they could be POOR people who could not get the money to post BAIL, or did not have anyone to Stand SURETY and post Bail. When you provide Court Bail, you have to deposit the bail amount and will not have access to this monies until the trial is OVER - that is really asking a lot of the poor and even middle class. 

2.     Then, there are those who applied for Bail and the Court denied them Bail. 

3.    Then, the 3rd category are those charged for SOSMA listed offences - where the LAW itself denies BAIL.

Charge only if Prosecution Ready to Start Trial

The principle is that a person should not be charged in Court until the investigation into the case against him has been completed and there is prima facie evidence to prosecute him of the charge. In other words, a person should not be put in peril of a criminal trial unless the prosecution is able to prove the case against him. To do otherwise is an injustice. It is unjust because of the social stigma that immediately attaches to a person once he is charged in Court. He is deserted by his friends. His business is affected. His creditors close on him. His family is ashamed. He is mentally tormented awaiting trial.

And last but not least, he has to incur the expense of engaging Counsel. There is no consolation in the fact that he may eventually be shown to be innocent of the charge. The damage has been done.

To prosecute a person in Court on a criminal charge, therefore is a grave responsibility. - PUBLIC PROSECUTOR v. TAN KIM SAN. HIGH COURT, KUALA LUMPUR
HARUN J[The legal principle as to when one should be CHARGED, Arrested and released on Police Bail - The Case of PP v Tan Kim San, judgement of late Supreme Court Judge Harun Mahmud Hashim]

Now, the law is clear - DO NOT CHARGE until you already have sufficient evidence to proof the accused GUILTY. That means that Prosecution are ready to start the case ...calling witnesses already > there is NO REASON FOR DELAY on the part of the Prosecution - and so, the problem may be TOO MANY CASE - too few Judges and Courts.

For the accused who are not walking FREE on Bail, their TRIAL best be expedited, it must begin and end(at least reach the stage that Prosecution proves Prima Facie case) within 3 MONTHS(or worst 6 Months) after the date they were charged in Court... 

Now, if the trial does not begin and reach PRIMA FACIE stage within 3 Months(or 6 Months) - then the Public Prosecutor/Attorney General must discontinue the Criminal Case, and cause them to be DISCHARGED. This will mean that they will be able to leave PRISON and note that whenever in the future, the Public Prosecutor is ready to proceed again  - these persons can be CHARGED again...

Art 145 (3) Federal Constitution - The Attorney General shall have power, exercisable at his discretion, to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court or a court-martial.

Section 254 Criminal Procedure Code - (1) At any stage of any trial, before the delivery of judgment, the Public Prosecutor may, if he thinks fit, inform the Court that he will not further prosecute the accused upon the charge and thereupon all proceedings on the charge against the accused shall be stayed and the accused shall be discharged of and from the same....

Remember, a person granted a DISCHARGE can always be charged again when prosecution and Courts are ready to provide a SPEEDY Trial.

254A  Reinstatement of trial after discharge

(1) Subject to subsection (2), where an accused has been given a discharge by the Court and he is recharged for the same offence, his trial shall be reinstated and be continued as if there had been no such order given.

(2) Subsection (1) shall only apply where witnesses have been called to give evidence at the trial before the order for a discharge has been given by the Court.

Note, that if about 25,000 of these 28,000 are given a DISCHARGE(or a DNAA), the OVERCROWDING problem in Malaysian prisons is settled. 

Imagine also the AMOUNT of MONIES SAVED - as the cost of housing these about 28,000 REMAND prisoners must be HIGH, and worst, is that the UNCONVICTED do not deserve to be in Prison in the first place.  

A person yet to be tried, convicted and sentenced  SHOULD not be placed in the same prison(or prison conditions) as those already convicted and serving their sentences... Their DETENTION place should be of better condition since they are in law INNOCENT persons, until the court finds them Guilty.

Malaysia is cutting SUBSIDIES and increasing cost of living as a means to REDUCE government spending. If they reduce the PRISON population by 28,000 - it would safe so much monies...


Dewan Rakyat hears case of Anwar ex-staff as example of wilful denial of bail leading to prison overcrowding

The PN MP says Yusoff Rawther is most likely victimised because of his involvement in cases implicating those in power.

MalaysiaNow
Yusoff Rawther at Kuala Lumpur court complex on Nov 12, 2024. He maintains that the items found in his car were planted by those harbouring a grudge against him, and has called on police to investigate several individuals.
Yusoff Rawther at Kuala Lumpur court complex on Nov 12, 2024. He maintains that the items found in his car were planted by those harbouring a grudge against him, and has called on police to investigate several individuals.

Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Kota Bharu MP, Takiyuddin Hassan, today raised the case of a former research assistant to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who was charged with the possession of drugs and firearms which police claimed were found in his car.

Takiyuddin said the case involving Yusoff Rawther was an example of how bail is more often than not rejected by the courts without considering the merit of individual cases, leading to unnecessary overcrowding in prisons.

"He once filed a criminal complaint against his employer. The police took no action against his employer, whereupon he filed a civil suit against his employer.

"But not long ago... he was arrested. He was allegedly in possession of cannabis and also had two guns," Takiyuddin told Dewan Rakyat while talking about remand prisoners, who make up about 28,000 of the 87,000 inmates currently housed in prisons nationwide which have a maximum capacity of 74,000.

The PAS secretary-general recounted how the police had ambushed Yusoff on the day of his arrest as he was about to get into his car.

"He had not got in yet. The car was parked on the side of the road," he said.

Takiyuddin Hassan.
Takiyuddin Hassan.

Takiyuddin said the charges against Yusoff were framed under non-bailable offences, causing him to be sent to prison.

He said the court should have considered the circumstances in the months leading to Yusoff's arrest, including the possibility that he was framed.

"It is believed that he was victimised because he filed a suit against someone who is currently in power," he added.

On Oct 9, Yusoff, the grandson of the late Penang consumer advocate SM Mohamed Idris, pleaded not guilty to possession of imitation weapons under the Firearms Act, facing a imprisonment of up to a year, fine of up to RM5,000 or both.

The 31-year-old, who worked for Anwar in 2018 before suing the PKR chairman for sexual assault, also faces charges of possession of 305g of cannabis under the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Yusoff has maintained that the items were planted in his car by people harbouring a grudge against him.

He has also filed two police reports with names of people to be investigated, but police have yet to comment on the status of the reports.

On Nov 12, family members detailed  what transpired on the day of Yusoff's arrest and recalled that he had been tailed by unknown persons for months.

They recounted how Yusoff was ambushed by a team of policemen in an unmarked car and a motorbike as he walked to his car parked outside his apartment block on Sept 6.

"The police asked him to open the car door but it did not open with the remote, then one of them directed Yusoff to open the car door manually and it still did not work either," his aunt Fathima Idris said in a press conference.

Fathima said a police officer then opened the passenger side of Yusoff's car before asking him to open the driver's door.

She said Yusoff was restrained while police searched the car, and shortly after, an officer came out with a bag and asked him what was inside, to which Yusoff replied that he did not know.

At this point, the police took a gun out of the bag, she said.

"They then handcuffed Yusoff, got him to sit in the back of his car together with a police and another one of them drove the car to KL police headquarters and searched the car there."

Fathima said Yusoff could not see what was happening inside the car before the the drugs turned up at the car park in front of the surau of the police headquarters.

She said police repeatedly tried to intimidate Yusoff into signing a "borang bongkar" (seizure list) detailing the items that were allegedly in his car, but he refused.

Yusoff has filed a separate suit against Anwar's former political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, claiming damages for the injuries he suffered after he was assaulted at Anwar’s bungalow office in Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya.

In October 2022, the Shah Alam Sessions Court ordered Anwar's press secretary, Tunku Nashrul Tunku Abaidah, to pay Yusoff RM200,000 in damages for statements made in connection with the assault on Farhash. -Malaysia Now, 18/11/2024

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