Anwar fails to stop trial from being moved to High Court

updates

The High Court said it had the power to revise a decision of a subordinate court. -The Star/ANN -
Thu, Feb 26, 2009The Star/Asia News Network



KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA : PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim suffered a setback when he failed to stop the prosecution from pursuing a revision to have his sodomy trial moved to the High Court.

The High Court yesterday dismissed Anwar's preliminary objection against the prosecution's application to have the Court revise the Sessions Court's decision to hear Anwar's case at the higher court.

Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, in delivering his decision, said under the Criminal Procedure Code, the High Court had the power to revise a decision of a subordinate court, and that the preliminary objection was premature.
"The preliminary objection is dismissed,' he said, adding that the prosecution could present their submissions on their revision application.

Anwar is on trial for allegedly sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in Bukit Damansara on June 26, last year.
On Nov 7, Sessions Court Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah ruled that a transfer certificate signed by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was invalid.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had earlier given an assurance that Abdul Gani and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan would not be involved in Anwar's second sodomy trial because Anwar claimed they had tampered with the evidence in his first sodomy trial 11 years ago.

However, Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden submitted that the Sessions Court had refused to transfer the case despite the law clearly stating that the Attorney-General had the power to transfer cases.

To make it worse, he said, the Sessions Court had conferred on an application that the Attorney-General's certificate was not valid, which is beyond her (Komathy's) jurisdiction.
In his rebuttal, Anwar's lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah said the Attorney-General held office at the pleasure of the Agong, which meant that he was subordinate to the executive.

"The Prime Minister was under urge to take executive action against the Attorney-General by promising that he would not be involved.

"This is not a normal case. The validity of the certificate is questioned not because of lack of power but because the person who signed it has been disqualified," he argued.
Earlier, Sulaiman withdrew the application to disqualify Mohd Yusof Zainal from the case, after the latter filed an affidavit stating that he had never seen Anwar's investigation papers on the "black-eye" incident 11 years ago.

On Feb 5, Anwar applied to the High Court to disqualify Mohd Yusof, claiming he was involved in the "black-eye" case as he was a representative for the Attorney-General Chambers then.
Sulaiman said that based on the affidavit, the defence no longer had grounds to disqualify the Solicitor-General.

Teachers going mad teaching ects in English, claims rep

updates.11.15

TAIPING: Some Malay teachers in Bagan Serai are “going mad” as they cannot handle teaching Mathematics and Science subjects in English, claimed a state assemblyman .
Dr Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah (Titi Serong) said the teachers themselves had to take English classes to improve their command of English.


While they are still grappling with the language, they are required to teach their students as well, said Khalil, who was chairman of the Perak Backbenchers Club in the former Pakatan Rakyat-led state government.


“The teachers themselves have a poor command of English. How do we expect them to teach their students?” he asked in his speech after a briefing on the subject at the state PAS headquarters in Jalan Air Kuning on Tuesday.


Some teachers, he said, “have simply gone crazy” because of this, likening the matter to the blind leading the blind. He claimed the minimum passing mark for both subjects were lowered to ensure that only a rosy picture was painted of the move.


Earlier, the gathering was told by Malaysian Translators Association president Associate Prof Abdullah Hassan that a big gathering is scheduled to be held in front of Istana Negara at 2pm on March 7 to protest against the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English.


Prof Abdullah said the argument that the usage of English would provide better job opportunities could only hold water if there were plenty of job openings.