No protection order, so ex-airman chooses jail

(Malaysiakini) In yet another dramatic twist in the trial of former RMAF sergeant N Tharmendran, the accused retracted his bail after the PJ Sessions Court refused his application for a protection order from the air force.

Judge Hayatul Akmal Abd Aziz ruled that the court has no jurisdiction to grant such an order, and it cannot admit a police report on alleged harassment by the RMAF as evidence, as it is still under investigation.

She added that the Abduction and Criminal Intimidation of Witnesses Act, cited by Tharmendran's defence as grounds to grant the order, is not applicable in Tharmendran's case as he is an accused and not a witness.

Tharmendran will now go back to the Sungai Buloh prison, just two weeks after securing a reduced bail of RM50,000 from the High Court.

Lead defence counsel N Surendran (left) said Tharmendran requested to retract his bail as he feared he would be picked up by RMAF officers who were waiting outside the courtroom.

"This goes to show that anyone who has been tortured before does not want to be tortured again," Surendran said of his client's alleged torture by army intelligence officers.

Surendran decried the court's decision not to grant Tharmendran a protection order, accusing the judicial system of failing the cause of justice.

"Today is one of the darkest days in this country, when a Malaysian citizen is forced to go to prison to protect himself from the authorities themselves," he said after the hearing this afternoon.

Earlier this morning, Tharmendran filed a police report claiming that four armed forces personnel had gone to his parents' home in Seremban to pick him up.

He also claimed that at least 10 officers from the air force's intelligence division, all in plainclothes, were waiting around at the courthouse this morning to take him away.

'Limited' documents turn up

At the afternoon hearing, deputy public prosecutor Ishak Muhamad Yusof was believed to have cited some documents handed over to him by marshalls attached to the military court.

The contents of the documents were unknown and could not be shown to the court as the marshalls claimed that it has limited access.

It was however at this time when Ishak refuted the defence's claim that Tharmendran's contract with the RMAF expired on May 28 this year, saying that after making an "inquiry" into his employment status, Tharmendran is still attached to the RMAF.

Surendran earlier argued that because Tharmendran's contract had ended almost two months ago, he is now a civilian and the RMAF have no business harassing him.

Ishak suggested that the defence apply for an injunction in the High Court, as it is the proper procedure to apply for such an order and would give the air force enough time to respond to the allegations.

"This court has no jurisdiction to give such an order, and if it does so it would be pre-judged as the matter is still under investigation," he said.

Trial date postponed

Earlier, Hayatul had adjourned Tharmendran's trial regarding two jet fighter engines found missing in 2007, pending the outcome of two applications filed by his lawyers.

The first application, filed on July 15 in the Sessions Court, is for further documents from the prosecution in relation to the alleged theft of the engines.

The second application, filed on July 16 in the Shah Alam High Court, seeks to strike out Tharmendran's case on the grounds that it is an abuse of the court process and frivolous.

The High Court has not set a date to hear this application.

Also present today was co-accused K Rajandran Prasad (left), who is represented by Gobind Singh Deo.

Tharmendran and Rajandran are jointly charged in connection with the theft of the jet engines in 2007.

The Sessions Court set Sept 6 for mention, to fix new dates for the trial.

Mystery men

The start of the trial was filled with drama and intrigue when Tharmendran's lawyers applied for a protection order to keep alleged "abductors" at bay.

Tharmendran (right) pointed out two officers in plain clothes hanging around the courthouse after the trial was adjourned.

This prompted his Surendran and Lateefa Koya to confront one of the officers.

"He admitted he was an officer, but denied that he is a witness or (that he is) involved in the case," Surendran said.

"He said he and another officer were just accompanying another officer to the courthouse, but when we asked if the person was still around, he said they did not know."

Tharmendran and his lawyers then went to the Petaling Jaya police station to lodge a report on an alleged attempt by air force personnel to abduct him from his parents' home in Seremban last Friday.

The report will be the basis for his protection order, which will be heard by the Sessions Court at 2pm today.

Tharmendran had previously told Malaysiakini that he had been tortured by military intelligence officers while being interrogated during an internal probe.