Ex-loan shark gets death for burning wife

GEORGE TOWN: A former loan shark was sentenced to death after a High Court found him guilty of setting his wife on fire that resulted in her death about three years ago.

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Nordin Hassan ruled that prosecution had succeeded in proving its case against Chiam Nguang Huat beyond reasonable doubt.

Chiam, 42, was charged with murdering Lai Siew Fong, 36, at their home in Taman Bayu Mutiara, Bukit Mertajam, at around 4pm on June 24, 2013.

Lai's three siblings were present in the court.

Counsel Y. Anbananthan represented Chiam while DPP Amir Hamdzah Othman prosecuted.

Dr M: We must act like we have no parties to defeat Najib

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called on the opposition and the public to cast aside their identities as party members in the upcoming twin by-elections to ensure Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's defeat.

Speaking after a meeting with several opposition MPs in Putrajaya, Mahathir said this was because some of Najib's policies, such as the goods and services tax, have burdened all regardless of political allegiances.

"We are agreed that in these by-elections we must behave as though we don't belong to any party.

"We are a people's movement... Everyone regardless of whether they are with BN or the opposition should support whoever is fighting against Najib," he said.

Most of the MPs attending the meeting were from DAP, namely Steven Sim, Zairil Khir Johari, Lim Lip Eng, Thomas Su, and Julian Tan.

Also in attendance were Amanah's Khalid Samad, Mujahid Yusof Rawa and Raja Kamarul Bahrin, Mahfuz Omar from PAS, and Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin from PKR.

They came in their personal capacities to discuss the upcoming by-elections.

However, they did not discuss which party should contest in Sungai Besar or Kuala Kangsar.

Mahathir said this would be discussed at another meeting involving those who signed the Citizens' Declaration during its launch, as well as the opposition.

Asked about the possibility of three-cornered contests, Mahathir expressed confidence that the issue could be dealt with.

"...two-, three- or five-cornered, we have our ways to deal with this."

No plan to hurt or kill Dharmendran, police inspector tells court

The Serious Crime Branch (D9) operation officer, Inspector S Hare Krishnan told the High Court here today that he and three others did not plan or intend to hurt or kill N Dharmendran, who died in a police lock-up in 2013.

Hare Krishnan, 43, who was then attached to the D9 Branch of Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent headquarters, said he did not even cause any form of injury to Dharmendran, who was detained on suspicion of attempted murder involving firearms.

The police inspector, who is currently on suspension, also denied that he and the three others were involved in Dharmendran's murder.

He said this during the examination-in-chief by his counsel M Athimulan in the defence proceedings before Judge Kamardin Hashim.

Hare Krishnan said that in the investigation of Dharmendran's case, he did not interrogate Dharmendran as the task was carried out by the interrogation team and he did not give any instruction for his men to interrogate Dharmendran.

Responsibility of lock-up officer

On Dharmendran's safety in the lock-up, Hare Krishnan said it was the responsibility of the lock-up officer and the 24-hour police officer on duty, and not his.

When asked how did he learn about Dharmendran's death, Hare Krishan said he learned about through a telephone call from the 24-hour police officer on duty, Corporal Nizam, at 4.30pm on May 21, 2013.

He said at that time, he had just reached home in Cheras after taking a statement from a shooting victim at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital (HUKM).

Meanwhile, during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Suhaimi Ibrahim, Hare Krishnan said he never went to see Dharmendran in the lock-up even though he had access to do so.

Hare Krishnan, Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 46, Corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 47, and Corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 34, were accused of killing Dharmendran at the D9 interrogation room on Level 7 of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent headquarters in Jalan Hang Tuah between May 18 and 21, 2013.

They face the death sentence in convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

On Dec 12, 2014, Kamardin acquitted the four policemen from the murder charge at the end of the prosecution case without calling for their defence.

However, on Feb 26, 2016, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court acquittal of the policemen over the murder of Dharmendran and ordered them to enter their defence.

On April 28, 2016, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) set up to investigate the death of Dharmendran found that he had died due to the use of physical force by the police.

The trial continues tomorrow.

- Bernama

'Jamil Khir’s stand on unilateral conversion defective'

The government is wrong in citing the Subashini case to say that it is unconstitutional to ban unilateral conversions, says the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom in a parliamentary reply yesterday said a ban on unilateral conversions contravenes Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.

Jamil Khir said this is affirmed in the R Subashini vs T Saravanan case.

However, MCCBCHST chairperson Jagir Singh said this view is defective, given the facts of the Subashini case.

“The MCCBCHST reiterates that if a single parent is allowed to convert a child, then there will be no justice and finality in the matter and it will have the effect of ignoring the constitutional provisions.

“If a single-parent-can-convert-a-child approach is taken, then this matter will persist even for the next 100 years, with justice being denied to the non-converting spouse and the matter can never be put to rest,” Jagir said.

The case cited involves Hindu mother R Subashini’s challenge of her son’s conversion to Islam by her estranged husband after he embraced Islam.

Jamil Khir said the Federal Court case’s dismissal of Subashini’s application affirmed that the word ‘parent’ in Article 12(4) means a single parent can change the religion of the child.

However, Jagir (photo) said Jamil Khir is mistaken because the court dismissed Subashini’s application on a technicality.

Subashini had filed for divorce before three months had lapsed since her estranged husband T Saravanan’s conversion to Islam, but the law states it could only be filed three months after the conversions have lapsed.

Jagir also cited constitutional law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi, who had then observed that the Federal Court’s 2-1 judgment did not change the word ‘parent’ to mean singular instead of plural.

The highest law

In the dissenting view, Justice Abdul Aziz Mohamed also states that the wife has equal right in preferring that the child is not converted to Islam, Jagir said.

“In view of the above, it is wrong for anyone to quote the Subashini case as authority for allowing unilateral conversion by one parent.

“If Article 12(4) were to be so interpreted, then it (Federal Constitution) being the highest law, a single parent could one day convert a child to one religion and the next day the other parent can convert the same child to a different religion. This would be absurd,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, it would be equally absurd to later say that a child who has been converted to Islam by a single parent cannot convert to another religion due to syariah law.

“Religious law cannot override the constitution,” Jagir said.

On March 9, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said the drafting of laws pertaining to the unilateral conversion of minors has been completed.

“From the aspect of civil (law), we do not have much problems, but this also relates to syariah (law),” Nancy said then.

From the syariah law aspect, she said, Jamil Khir has been obtaining feedback from the state religious bodies.

“A series of consultations with the states have been conducted,” Nancy said.

The cabinet had set up a five-member special committee in its latest attempt to deal with the interfaith conversion dispute and custody matters.

No scientific evidence of Hinduism-Buddhism in Bujang Valley?

Prominent Malaysian archaeologist Prof Mokhtar Saidin came out with two important findings during the two-day Old Kedah conference in Sungei Petani, recently.

One was that animism, rather than Hinduism or Buddhism, was the dominant form of worship in the Bujang Valley more than 2,500 years ago. Second, that Bujang Valley stands no chance of being gazetted by Unesco because there is no scientific research to date to verify that the temple ruins were Hindu or Buddhist.

I am not sure whether the two statements have any relationship with one another, or whether Mokhtar is trying to say that since there exists no solid proof of the existence of Hinduism or Buddhism, chances are that the religious worship could even be animism.

Anyway, in days or months to come, I hope Mokhtar can prove to the satisfaction of the international researchers that animism was indeed the dominant practice among the ancients.

He laments the fact that widespread existence of Hindu and Buddhist temples in the valley have yet not be proven. There is lack of scientific objectivity and rigour in establishing the truth about the Bujang Valley.

Mere presence of artifacts and architectural comparisons about Hindu-Buddhist temples do not reflect scientific integrity. Even the candi (either temple or burial ground) have been reconstructed from the stones and bricks in the vicinity.

Mokhtar said that no efforts have been made, both in the past and the present, to protect the temple sites in the valley. One candi was completely demolished by a developer in 2013, without any consideration for the heritage status of the land.

Mokhtar’s analysis of the heritage status of the Bujang Valley in the recent international conferences raised a number of questions that need to be addressed, both by archeologists, historians and those in the government.

Already acclaimed as Hinduism-Buddhism site

First, Bujang Valley has been internationally acclaimed as an ancient site of Hinduism-Buddhism, that is, before the advent of Islam. If there exists no evidence, whether scientific or not, then there is need to explain how this valley received such an acclaim.

Second, Mokhtar is well-known as an archaeologist and researcher, but for him to say that there is no scientific evidence to prove that the Hindu-Buddhist status of the Bujang Valley raises questions as to what our local researchers have been doing all the while.

Many excavations have been done in the past and many more are being planned, so, can I ask what is the purpose?

Third, colonial structures in Malacca and Penang have received the heritage status from Unesco. Is it really true that Unesco is withholding the conferment of heritage status on the Bujang Valley because there is no scientific evidence to authenticate the Hindu-Buddhist origins?

If other ancient sites around the world have received Unesco heritage status, what is preventing Bujang Valley from receiving such an award?

Fourth, apart from the lack of scientific rigour or evidence, who is responsible for initiating the area or place to be designated as heritage and what is the role of the state and federal governments?

Is the federal government dragging its feet on this matter simply because it is politically not conducive to do so?

Fifth, if local researchers do not have the technology or the skills, then maybe it is necessary to bring in foreign experts to determine whether there was such a thing as Hindu-Buddhist presence in the Bujang Valley.

Sixth, Saidin wants to prove that animism was widespread in the Sungei Batu area of the Bujang Valley more than 2,500 years, a site older than Borobodur and Angkor Wat.

As I have argued earlier, this might be so. It does not prove that Hinduism-Buddhism was non-existent but all these religions could have co-existed before the rise of monotheism.

Seventh, is there a relationship between the presence of animism and the lack of evidence on Hinduism-Buddhism?

P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the state assemblyperson for Perai.

Mahathir to hit campaign trail against BN, says ex-Umno man

In what might be an unprecedented turn of events, the opposition campaign in the upcoming by-elections could receive a boost from Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan confirmed that the former premier would be hitting the campaign trail in both Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.

Asked if this meant Mahathir would campaign for the opposition, he said: "It looks like that because Tun (Mahathir) is very consistent. He said BN must be defeated at whatever cost."

On whether this included supporting PAS candidates, he said: "Tun said if it is PAS, then we have to support PAS."

Recently, Mahathir urged the opposition parties to combine their efforts in order to prevent BN from retaining the two parliament seats.

His remarks drew flak from various Umno leaders, including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The prime minister said Mahathir and his family had reaped enormous benefits from Umno and BN, and his remarks were akin to a stab in the back.

Whereas Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said Mahathir had made it clear that he wanted to kill the ruling coalition.

The latest development comes amid a warning from jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to PKR on the dangers of working with Mahathir.

Anwar reiterated his caution this morning, saying that while he did not object to PKR joining hands with Mahathir on the Citizens’ Declaration, he however did not want the former premier to dictate the agenda.

The launch of the Citizens' Declaration two months ago witnessed opposition and civil society leaders, who were once critical of Mahathir, sitting at the same table with him.

Observers have also noted that following his incarceration, Anwar's influence had began to wane while Mahathir is appearing to usurp his role as opposition leader.

The by-elections, which would be held simultaneously on June 18, were called following the death of its incumbents Noriah Kasnon (Sungai Besar MP) and Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad (Kuala Kangsar MP).

The two were among six people who perished in a helicopter crash during the recent state election campaign period in Sarawak.

Nomination day has been fixed for June 5.

Lorry driver slashed to death outside restaurant

A MAN was found dead with multiple slash wounds in a drain in front of a restaurant in Batu Maung, Penang, Tamil dailies reported.

The body was discovered by passers-by at about 6am on Sunday.

The victim was identified as lorry driver R. Jegathiswaran, 27.

Police also found three cars at the scene with the interiors smeared with blood.

Several of Jegathiswaran’s fingers were believed to have been cut off during the attack and were found 28m from the body.

He was reportedly seen talking to some men the night before in the same area.

Police have detained two men in connection with the murder.

Kelantan cops on hunt for Indira Gandhi’s ex-spouse, border teams on alert

PUTRAJAYA, May 23 — Kelantan police today said they are already searching for M. Indira Gandhi’s fugitive ex-husband and have asked border authorities to be on the lookout for him.

Kelantan’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamad Fakri Che Sulaiman said the state police are working with the Immigration Department to “monitor the movement” of Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.

“Kelantan Police has informed all the districts in Kelantan and the districts close to the border plus the marine police to be on the alert,” the officer in charge of criminal investigation under the Kelantan police contingent told Malay Mail Online in an email response today.

Indira and her lawyer M. Kulasegaran had previously voiced fears that Muhammad Riduan may have or is planning to flee across over the Malaysian border from Kelantan to other countries such as Thailand.

Kulasegaran had said Muhammad Riduan’s last known location in 2014 was in Kelantan’s Kota Baru.

Today, Mohamad Fakri noted that Indira’s ex-husband has been put on the wanted-list by the Perak police and said the Kelantan police will “follow through”.

“To date there (has) been no information as to the whereabouts of Muhammad Riduan in Kelantan,” he told Malay Mail Online.

He confirmed the Kelantan police have already initiated the search as directed by the federal police.

He said anyone with any information on Muhammad Riduan’s whereabouts can directly contact Ipoh police headquarters’ senior investigation officer Assistant Superintendent of Police Kamariah Jamaludin (016-5249091) or Pasir Mas district’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Deputy Superintendent of Police Samsulmuddin Sulaiman (012-998 2027).

In a protracted legal battle, the Ipoh High Court had in 2010 granted Indira custody over all three of her children and later ordered Muhammad Riduan to return the youngest child he had snatched away in 2009.

But Muhammad Riduan did not comply with the 2014 order to return Prasana Diksa, resulting in the Ipoh High Court’s order the same year for his arrest over his contempt of court.

The Ipoh High Court also issued a mandamus order the same year to compel the police to arrest him and return Prasana Diksa to Indira.

On April 29, the Federal Court upheld the order to compel the police to arrest Muhammad Riduan and said the Ipoh High Court will monitor the progress of the execution of the arrest warrant.

The apex court said then however that the Ipoh High Court should not have asked the police to recover the youngest child due to conflicting child custody orders from both the civil courts and Shariah courts.

On May 4, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said that he had instructed his officers to locate and to arrest Muhammad Riduan for contempt of court from the day the Federal Court gave its decision, adding that there was no information to show that he had left the country.

Police report against Dr M over King ‘house arrest’ claim

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim has lodged a police report against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over his claim that the King and other Malay rulers have been placed under house arrest.

He said the former prime minister’s allegation was “false and mischievous”.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission adviser noted that several news portals had reported on this.

He said Dr Mahathir alleged the house arrest was to prevent the King from receiving the 1.4 million people’s signatures that he (Dr Mahathir) claimed to have collected.

“By effectively accusing the government of placing His Majesty under house arrest, Tun Mahathir has gone too far, far beyond the bounds of propriety,” he told reporters at the Dang Wangi police headquarters here today.

He also rapped Dr Mahathir over his attempt to involve constitutional rulers in politics, as well as partisan politics to his advantage.

Tunku Abdul Aziz said Dr Mahathir’s action had caused confusion and could undermine public order and security, and urged the authorities to take immediate action against the former prime minister. — Bernama

Good Samaritan saves mother and daughter on KTM Komuter

PETALING JAYA: A Good Samaritan came to the aid of a woman and her daughter, protecting the two from a group of robbers on the KTM Komuter train.

In a Facebook post, Reena Peter claimed that she was set on by a group of young thugs while travelling via Komuter to KL Sentral on Saturday evening.

The boys, she claimed, had attempted to rob Reena and her daughter in the train, which was emptier than usual.

However, the robbery was thwarted by the Good Samaritan.

In an attempt to save Reena and her daughter, the man engaged in a fight with the mob and knocked out the leader of the group.

After the fight, the thugs got left at the next station. However, Reena and her daughter, who were in shock, did not have time to say thank you to their saviour.

Not wanting to let the good deed go unnoticed, Reena shared her experience and expressed her appreciation to the man in a Facebook post.

Her post has since been shared over 300 times.

Below is her recollection of the encounter:

“First I would thank the guy in the above picture for saving my daughter and me. This (Saturday) evening my daughter and I were travelling to KL Sentral. Since it’s a Saturday, there were less people in the KTM.

“A gang of boys came to us and knowing we were alone, started to misbehave with my daughter and me. They even threatened us and asked us to give them all of our money and phones. The guy in the photo attached came in like an angel and fought with the mob.

“The head of the mob collapsed and the rest got down at the next point with their head. We were in an a trauma after the attack and were not able to ask this angel’s name or say thank you. But my daughter got his picture on her mobile. If any one know this guy please share that Ms Reena and her daughter said thanks.”

Attempts to reach Reena for further comment have been unsuccessful.

The Star is also working on identifying the Good Samaritan.

Discourse on religion’s role in poverty fight needed

KUALA LUMPUR: There needs to be a new discussion on the role of religions in allevia­ting poverty.

This was the consensus reached at the inter-faith dialogue titled “Religion and the Poor: An opium or Liberator?” yesterday.

Organised by the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), the dialogue featured National University of Singapore Assoc Prof Syed Farid Alatas, Christian Federation of Malaysia executive committee member Dr Patricia Martinez, Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism honorary secretary-general Prematilaka K.D. Serisena and Pusaka founder and director Eddin Khoo as speakers.

Prof Syed Farid said there was a lack of critical thinking when it came to discussing religion’s role in poverty in the country.

“For example, there is no critical thinking on what exploitation means.

“We need to draw upon intellectual traditions in Islam and other religions to start a discourse,” said Prof Syed Farid, adding that a critique of Islamic economics was that many of the ideas were bourgeois.

Khoo felt a major issue in the country was the lack of deep dialogue on important topics.

“A major problem (with us) is that we have hardly intellectualised anything,” he said, giving as example the often-cited theory that terrorism was linked to poverty, but failing to discuss the fact that there were terrorists from middle-class backgrounds too.

Dr Martinez said the discussions on the topic should be inclusive, adding that there was a socialist premise in the Bible itself.

IRF research fellow and spokesperson for the event Imran Mohd Rasid said the dialogue was meant to introduce a new dimension to the role religions played in poverty.

“There is always a conversation about the poor, especially in religious narrative, in that as individuals we have to give charity.

“But the poor are a product of social injustices, so the job is not to just give them charity but to liberate them (from poverty),” Imran told The Star, adding that the IRF wanted to raise awareness on this.

The dialogue was held at University of Nottingham’s Chulan Tower branch.

Zahid: No need to amend law for stateless children issue

There is no need for the government to amend the law to resolve the citizenship status of stateless children, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

Zahid said this is because the Federal Constitution has stipulated the provisions and conditions with regard to applying for citizenship.

"It is the parents' obligation to refer to their countries of origin if a child is born in Malaysia, to secure travelling documents and identification documents," he added in a parliamentary written reply.

Zahid, who is also home minister, was responding to Ramkarpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), who asked the home minister if the government intended to amend the law to allow stateless children to be registered automatically as legal citizens.

It is reported that Malaysia has 150,000 stateless children.

Zahid disagreed with the terminology "stateless children", saying that they are not stateless as the information suggested their parents are foreigners.

Jamil Khir: Law that bans unilateral conversion is unconstitutional

While the government is in the midst of drafting laws to prevent unilateral conversion of minors, Islamic affairs minister Jamil Khir Baharom has claimed that any legislation to ban unilateral conversion is unconstitutional.

“In the context of the law system and judiciary in Malaysia, the court, be it civil or syariah, upholds the principle of justice in ensuring that the parties of the unilateral conversion are protected.

“For this issue, legislation that bans unilateral conversion contradicts Article 12 (4), which allows the father or mother to decide the child’s faith,” Jamil Khir said in a parliamentary written reply.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department cited the Federal Court’s ruling in R Subashini’s interfaith conversion case.

“The Federal Court had decided that the faith of the child below 18 years old can be decided by the father or mother,” he said.

He was responding to M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) who asked when the government would table legislation that bans unilateral conversion.

On March 9, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said the drafting of laws pertaining to the unilateral conversion of minors has been completed.

“From the aspect of civil (law), we do not have much problems, but this also relates to syariah (law),” she said then.

From the syariah law aspect, she said, Jamil has been obtaining feedback from the state religious bodies.

“A series of consultations with the states has been conducted,” she said.

The cabinet had set up a five-member special committee as its latest attempt to deal with the interfaith conversion dispute and custody matters.

Mangsa cabul rayu hakim ringankan hukuman bapa saudara

Mangsa yang kini berusia 15 tahun mengakui dirinya turut bersalah dan dia sudah memaafkan lelaki itu, justeru dia meminta hakim memberi hukuman ringan kepada tertuduh.

FMT

PETALING JAYA: Seorang mangsa yang dicabul bapa saudaranya bertindak menulis surat kepada hakim merayu tertuduh dijatuhkan hukuman ringan.

Dalam surat itu, mangsa yang kini berusia 15 tahun mengakui dirinya turut bersalah dan dia sudah memaafkan lelaki itu, justeru dia meminta hakim memberi hukuman ringan kepada tertuduh.

China Press melaporkan, tertuduh yang kini berusia 22 tahun itu mengaku bersalah terhadap tiga pertuduhan, termasuk melakukan serangan seksual terhadap anak saudaranya mulai 2011 hingga Januari 2015.

Menurut fakta kes, tertuduh yang berkongsi bilik dengan anak saudara lelaki dan perempuan serta kakaknya pada 2011, bertindak mengambil kesempatan ketika anak saudaranya sedang tidur nyenyak dengan menyentuh bahagian sulit mangsa sebelum mencabulnya.

Mangsa yang ketika itu berusia 10 tahun bagaimanapun tidak menolak mahupun mendedahkan perbuatan bapa saudaranya dan tertuduh kembali mencabul mangsa sebanyak dua kali lagi pada Januari 2015.

Perkara itu hanya terdedah ketika gadis itu mendapatkan khidmat nasihat kaunselor mengenai masalah cinta.

Timbalan Pendakwa Raya memohon mahkamah menjatuhkan hukuman penjara 21 hingga 24 tahun kerana tertuduh menyalahgunakan kepercayaan yang diberikan kakaknya, selain dia turut mempunyai teman wanita ketika itu dan aktif dalam seks.

Hakim menetapkan 22 Jun ini sebagai tarikh untuk menjatuhkan hukuman.

Nabbed IS supporter a safety expert on Malaysian VIP flights, says security official

PETALING JAYA: One of the 15 suspected Islamic State (IS) supporters arrested in Malaysia has been revealed as a senior aviation technician for a firm that serviced aircraft used by the nation’s corporate and political leaders.

The suspect, aged 49, is a former flight engineer for the Royal Malaysian Air Force, a regional security source told the South China Morning Post.

“The suspect is a senior technician whose responsibility was to check that an aircraft is safe for use. He is the person who gives the green light whether an aircraft is safe to take off or not,” said the security official.

The aircraft maintenance company services chartered aircrafts for domestic flights for so-called “VVIPs”, a term often used to describe passengers who are corporate and political leaders. The suspect worked there for 13 years, according to the official.

He was arrested in late March along with 14 other suspects in an operation covering six states as well as the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The other 14 suspects have all been charged in court, but investigations into the aviation engineer are continuing.

“He has conducted religious classes where he propagated ISIS ideology,” said the official.

“He is known to actively support IS via his Facebook account. He has shown IS videos on his mobile phone to his friends with the aim of promoting IS.”

An Airbus A321 operated by Russia’s Metrojet crashed in the Sinai in 31 October 2015, killing all 224 people on board. Russia and Western governments have said the plane was likely brought down by a bomb, and the IS militant group said it had smuggled an explosive on board.

Reuters reported in January that an EgyptAir mechanic, whose cousin joined Islamic State in Syria, is suspected of planting the bomb, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The official said the Malaysian technician’s links to ISIS “was very worrying.” “He could easily sabotage an aircraft. He could also put bombs or smuggle weapons onto a plane,” said the official.

Counter-terrorism experts described the technician as a potential “insider threat”.

“This is a matter for concern because this is precisely what I and others have referred to as the ‘insider threat’ of transnational terrorism,” said Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna, head of policy studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Singapore.

The “insider threat” is dangerous as it enables IS to attack targets from within the system, by recruiting already self-radicalised individuals in sensitive jobs, said Prof Kumar.

“Such a person would have the ability, at least in theory, to sabotage an aircraft with VVIPs on board either through by deliberately tampering with onboard systems, causing them to fail in mid-flight, or by placing an improvised explosive device onboard, assuming that he can gain access to one, or has the ability make one himself,” said Prof Kumar.

Such an insider also had the potential to directly assassinate a target, “because the person presumably would have the necessary security clearance already and would hence be less likely to attract attention. This is why enhanced and more regular security screenings are required in certain sensitive sectors,” he said.

The engineer is the second suspect in the aviation industry to have been arrested by Malaysian police over their alleged support for IS.

Last year, an armed auxiliary police officer who handled the screening of explosives and dangerous goods at the KL International Airport was arrested.

He is alleged to have helped facilitate his brother-in-law’s departure to Syria to fight for IS by escorting him to immigration, where the officer’s presence helped ensure there would be less scrutiny paid to the passenger’s final destination.

To date, Malaysian police have arrested more than 160 IS suspects. At least 19 Malaysians are known to have died in Iraq and Syria fighting for IS, some of them as suicide bombers.

Comango: Malaysia regressing in some human rights

PETALING JAYA, May 20 — Malaysian NGOs accused Putrajaya today of not doing enough to improve human rights in the country as pledged with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

According to the Coalition of Malaysian Non-Governmental Organisations (Comango), of the 150 human rights recommendations accepted by Malaysia in 2014, 60 of them were measurable and the situation was regressing in 57 per cent of these.

“We are seeing increasing violations of human rights and trend of growing impunity.

“For instance, instead of repealing the Sedition Act, we see an increasing trend of use of this Act for political motives since 2014,” Comango representative Sevan Doraisamy, who is also Suaram executive director, told a press conference on the coalition’s mid-term report on Malaysia’s progress in implementing its human rights pledges.

Sevan also said instead of taking steps to promote the rights of journalists and bloggers to freely exercise their rights to freedom of expression, Malaysia was strengthening laws to silence the media.

“The proposed amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 will likely aim at controlling or even stifling political content online rather than facilitating freedom of expression and information,” he said.

Another Comango representative, Jerald Joseph, from human rights group Pusat KOMAS, said the country also showed little or no improvement in terms of national unity and social cohesion.

“When there was a racial riot in the Low Yat incident, we saw a raced-based IT mall built and this also does not gel well with the 1Malaysia concept that the government is championing,” he said.

Mohd Rizal Rozhan, of Selangor Civic Community Association (Empower), said Malaysia has five years to fulfill its recommendations that are aimed at improving the human rights situation on the ground together with some 193 members of the United Nation.

He said the recommendations comprise eight sectors—international obligation; civil rights; economic, social and cultural rights; marginalised groups; national mechanisms on human rights; trafficking in persons; national unity and human rights education.

Asked if it was fair to penalise the government given that it still have another two years to fulfil these, Jerald said it was up to Putrajaya to explain.

“We hope and wish for the government to call us in to work on these recommendations together but to date, we have not received any such invitation,” he said.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/comango-malaysia-regressing-in-some-human-rights#sthash.SpRaJL0h.dpuf

Kho Jabing hanged

SINGAPORE, May 20 — A Malaysian murder convict was hanged in Singapore today, police said, hours after the city-state’s highest court rejected a final bid for him to escape the gallows.

“A 32-year-old male Malaysian national, Jabing Kho had his death sentence carried out on 20 May 2016 at Changi Prison Complex,” the Singapore Police Force said in a statement.

Kho, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for the murder of a Chinese construction worker, had been due to hang in Changi Prison at dawn today, but was granted a brief last-minute reprieve after his lawyer filed a challenge.

The Court of Appeal heard the latest plea this morning but said it raised no new arguments about the 2008 robbery gone wrong, clearing the way for the execution.

“This case has been about many things but today, it’s about the abuse of the process of the court,” said Court of Appeal Judge Chao Hick Tin.

Allowing Kho to continue with legal challenges would throw the judicial system “into disrepute,” he added.

Executions in Singapore are normally carried out by hanging at dawn on Fridays.

After Kho was sentenced to death in 2010, Singapore amended its mandatory death penalty for murder, giving judges the discretion to impose life imprisonment under certain circumstances.

Kho’s case was reviewed and he was re-sentenced to a life term in 2013. But state prosecutors appealed that ruling and his death sentence was reinstated in January 2015.

He was scheduled for execution on November 6 last year but another last-minute appeal saved him.

Kho’s accomplice in the crime had his conviction for murder overturned and got more than 18 years in prison and 19 strokes of the cane.

Singapore, which has rejected calls by rights groups to abolish the death penalty, executed four people in 2015, one for murder and three for drug offences, according to prison statistics.

Malaysia also uses capital punishment, executing murderers and drug traffickers by hanging, a system which, like that in Singapore, dates back to British colonial rule. — AFP

Dr M wants one-to-one contest but cautious about PAS candidacy

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said PAS' insistence on contesting in the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections leaves the people with no choice but to back the Islamic party if they want to see BN under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak defeated.

However, he raised concerns that PAS' insistence for a one-on-one battle against BN may just be a ploy for the Islamic party to withdraw at the eleventh hour and allow a walkover victory for BN.

"PAS may be pretending to nominate a candidate and when the rakyat do not put up their candidate, PAS will then pull out so that BN can win uncontested," he said in a blog posting today.

Mahathir had emphasised on the importance of a one-on-one contest in the by-elections to ensure BN is defeated.

The former premier, who had been accused of colluding with the opposition, was careful to refer to Pakatan Harapan as the "rakyat".

"The rakyat should only put up a single candidate. Unfortunately, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang wants to put a PAS candidate and BN will benefit if the rakyat put up another candidate.

"In order to avoid a split among the rakyat, if PAS puts up a candidate, the rakyat will need to give full support to PAS so that PAS can win big and BN will lose big," he said.

Mahathir said that even if PAS won, it would not be able to form the government and would remain a "slave" to BN which has superior numbers.

Pull out at the eleventh hour

However, Mahathir's reservation that PAS may pull out at the eleventh hour remained.

"We will not be surprised if PAS does this. (PAS president) Abdul Hadi Awang appears to have accepted 'cash is king' Najib even though the world perceives Najib as corrupt.

"That is Hadi's choice and his right. That was why PAS has split," he said.

Mahathir noted that Najib had tried to take credit for BN's thumping win in the Sarawak election even though he claimed it was due to the state's popular Chief Minister Adenan Satem.

A such, he said, BN's defeat in the by-elections was necessary to ensure that Najib cannot claim he has the people's backing.

Mahathir also emphasised that the bid to remove Najib is a people's movement and not merely an opposition's movement as the prime minister is trying to paint it.

"Only after Najib is no longer prime minister can democracy be restored and all the demands of parties be championed for.

"After democracy is restored, the rakyat can make any demands they want and on who will lead the country," he said.

Video: Slim River Tamil school parents and activist disappointments

Slim River Tamil school parents fear for their children’s safety

Parents of SRJK (T) Slim River school students are incredibly dissapointed by authorities lack of urgency to fix the schools termite problem that had been reported in 2011.

The Malaysia Times (TMT) today spoke to some of the concern parents outside the school, where they voiced their concern over their children’s safety.

Jayshree, 40, said that it has been five years since a complaint was made and four years since the Public Works Department (JKR) has reported that the building is not safe to be used.

“My son is now nine years old and still in danger, how long do they expect us to sit and wait,” Jayshree told TMT.

Meanwhile, Pooveneswary, 33, vented: “Are they waiting for something bad to happen to one of the children before they start doing their job.”

She said that even though the kindergarten children have been moved to the library, everyone still has to use the canteen, so they are all still in danger.

Arulmany, 38, said that the school had made the reports initially but after a couple of years had become less aggressive to get the building rebuilt.

S. Jeevaratnam said that he has personally funded the school as well to fix their minor things, but said that as this is a government building it can’t be demolished and rebuilt by just anyone.

“It’s worrying when things are out of your hands and your child’s safety is corn , it is very worrying,” he said.

“I have a cousin whom studied in the school almost 16 years ago and she said that the canteen is the same since she started studying,” said Arulmany.

The kindergarten and canteen building in the school has been labeled as unfit as it is infested by termites by the Public Works Department (JKR) in 2012,and that the building should be demolished.

200 student and 35 kindergarten students and several other teachers and staff currently accommodate the school.

Chinese make up 90% of those who gave up citizenship

ALMOST 90% of the 56,576 Malaysians who renounced their citi­zenship over the past decade were Chinese.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed that 49,864 Malaysian Chinese gave up their citizenship from 2006 to April this year.

In a written reply to Ramkarpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), Dr Ahmad Zahid also said in that pe­­riod, 834 Malays, 1,833 Indians and 4,044 others had done the same.

On a separate question by Kasthu­riraani Patto (DAP-Batu Kawan), Dr Ahmad Zahid said 43,453 foreigners were granted citizenship since 2006.

“The largest numbers were from Indonesia, India and Thailand,” he said.

Court: Hindu mum ‘can question validity of children’s conversion’

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has allowed Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi to question if her children’s unilateral conversion to Islam is valid.

Panel chairman Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin granted leave for appeal, allowing three questions to be posed by Indira Gandhi’s lawyers.

Her counsel K. Shanmuga had originally posed eight questions, while Senior Federal Counsel (SFC) Shamsul Bolhassan agreed with two of those questions.

The two questions were whether the Civil court has jurisdiction to review the Registrar of Muallafs’ actions; and whether a minor must recite the affirmation of faith in order to have their conversion registered.

The third question allowed was whether both parents of a child must consent before a certificate of conversion can be issued.

The three-man panel, which also included Justices Abu Samah Nordin and Aziah Ali, refunded the deposit though they did not set a date for the full hearing.

Indira Gandhi was supported by a team of lawyers which included Shanmuga, M. Kula Segaran, Aston Paiva and Fahri Azzat, while SFC Shamsul acted for the Federal Government and lawyer Hatim Musa acted for Indira’s ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.

On Dec 30, 2015, the Court of Appeal reversed the quashing of Indira Gandhi’s children Prasana and Karan Dinesh’s conversion certificates but made no ruling as to Tevi Darshiny, as she was now above 18 years of age.

In a 2-1 majority decision, the panel ruled that the children’s conversion was under the jurisdiction of Syariah Court.

On July 25, 2013, the Ipoh High Court quashed the three children’s certificates of conversion, declaring it null and void.

The legal saga began in April 2009, when Riduan took their youngest child, Prasana, then 11 months old, and converted the three children to Islam.

The two older children – Tevi, then 12, and Karan, then 11 – remained with their mother.

On Oct 29 the same year, Riduan obtained a Syariah Court order that awarded him custody of the children.

In a custody battle that ensued, the Ipoh High Court granted Indira Gandhi full custody of all three children and on March 11, 2010, the father was ordered to return Prasana to Indira.

On April 29 this year, a different Federal Court panel affirmed that Riduan should be arrested for not returning Prasana, though the police were not obliged to recover the child.

Dharmendran’s family sues IGP, government over custodial death

The wife of N. Dharmendran today filed a civil suit against the Malaysian government, the Inspector-General of Police and several police officers over the “unlawful death” of her husband who was purportedly beaten to death by several police officers. 

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/dharmendrans-family-sues-igp-government-over-custodial-death#sthash.C4U0yjHD.dpuf

Widow sues police, govt for husband’s death

The Court of Appeal has ordered four cops implicated in the murder of N. Dharmendran to face charges in the High Court.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Widow Marry Mariay Susay, whose husband N. Dharmendran died in police custody in 2013, sued the police and government on Friday over his death.

Housewife Marry, 29, is suing for damages over assault, battery, breach of duty, negligence, false imprisonment and conspiracies.

She is also seeking a declaration that the police and government had acted recklessly, unlawfully and in bad faith and were in breach of Dharmendran’s fundamental rights.

The suit was filed at the High Court.

Marry’s lawyer N. Surendran expressed the hope that the lawsuit will send a message to the authorities that changes need to be made.

“After the EAIC (Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission) report last month found that Dharmendran died because of acts of violence, there was not even a statement promising action by the government and police,” he said.

Surendran, who is also Padang Serai MP, said he had asked for statistics on the number of deaths in custody in this Parliament session.
“I hope to get it next week,” he said.

Marry, who was present with her son Santosh and family members, hope “for the best” outcome from the civil suit.

“I am happy the EAIC report confirmed my husband did not die because of any disease. The Commission proved police beat him up,” she said.

On February 26, four policemen who were freed of the murder of Dharmendran, were ordered by the Court of Appeal to enter their defence.

The appeals court set aside the High Court’s decision in acquitting Inspector S. Hare Krishnan, Sargent Jaffri Jaafar, Coporals Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, and Haswadi Zamri Shaari, on charges of allegedly murdering Dharmendran.

The panel ordered Hare and three others to be remanded till the disposal of the case in the High Court.

On December 12 last year, the High Court freed Hare, Jaffri, Nahar, and Haswadi for the death of Dharmendran in custody at the end of the prosecution case. It ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the motive in the case.

The four cops were charged with murdering Dharmendran at the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters interrogation room on May 21, 2013.

Leave King out of Zakir Naik controversy

The Teluk Bahang assemblyman who is demanding P Ramasamy apologise to the King for calling Zakir Naik "satan" is only engaging in a cheap publicity stunt to gain political mileage for himself.

I write in response to a news article titled “Apologise to King over Zakir Naik insult, Ramasamy told” published on May 18 by FMT.

It was reported that Teluk Bahang assemblyman, Shah Headan bin Ayoob Hussain Shah, in his motion of thanks to the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, had demanded Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang, P Ramasamy, to apologise to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for calling Dr Zakir Naik “satan.”
Shah Headen was of the view that insulting a person who has received an award from the King is tantamount to insulting the King himself.

First of all, let there be no confusion that Ramasamy used the word “satan” as a figure of speech. Certainly, he was not testifying that Zakir is Satan.

The controversies surrounding Zakir are not unknown to the public. According to a news article published on Dec 10, 2012 by Hindustan Times, the globally renowned Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband in India, slammed the religious views of Zakir in a fatwa and at the same time urged Muslims there to ignore his teachings.

The same fatwa also states that Zakir is a “ghair muqallidin”, a term used to describe those whose teachings are not directly based on any one of the four accepted schools of Sunni Islamic thought.

Last year, Mangalore City Police issued a prohibitory order banning Zakir from entering the city in Karnataka, India due to his radical thoughts and disparaging remarks on other religions.

The president of Vishwa Hindu Parishat, MB Puranik, argued: ‘Dr. Naik has been making derogatory speeches by mocking Hindu gods. He has been speaking against Hindu religious practices including idol worship. Moreover, he has shown disrespect to an Indian patriotic song ‘Vande Mataram’ and called upon the Muslims in India not to sing it.”

If a person is ignored and not welcomed by the religious and legal authorities of his own country, then there is certainly no reason for that person to be invited into ours. It is for this very purpose that Ramasamy opposed Zakir’s public talks in Malaysia.

Now, whether or not Ramasamy has any right to insult Zakir is beside the point. The point is, however, by no stretch of the imagination can we conclude that calling Zakir “satan” is equal to having gone, in the words of Shah Headen, “against the spirit of the Federal Constitution and affected the credibility of the King.”

If the above is a possibility, then what about the shameless incident of doing butt-exercises in front of Ambiga Sreenevasan’s house? Is not that also an insult to the Perak royalty since Ambiga was conferred a datukship by the Sultan of Perak?

Ramasamy categorically said in his press release dated April 12 that his Facebook posting was not against Islam or Muslims in general but against Zakir specifically.

Before making frivolous demands and wild accusations, Shah Headen should have taken note of the facts that Ramasamy fought for the Muslims in the troubled Aceh in the early 2000s and further acted as an adviser during the signing of the Helsinki MoU between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement.

Consequently, Aceh was bestowed with a special territory status while Ramasamy’s contract as a professor of political science at UKM was sadly not renewed. He paid the price for advocating a noble cause.

Therefore, I see no reason for Ramasamy, with all due respect, to apologise to the King for what he said about Zakir.

On the contrary, I call upon Shah Headen to apologise to all Malaysians for using the King’s name to earn political mileage for himself through the use of cheap publicity stunts, like the one mentioned here.

Shamsher Singh Thind is legal adviser to P Ramasamy and publicity secretary to DAP Chai Leng Park Branch.

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.

A confused Muslim, yet again

A heated debate on the alleged extremism Islam promotes, gets Fa wondering if being a self-professed moderate but willing to tolerate "nonsense" makes her just as bad as an extremist.

I found myself sucked into a debate while having breakfast at a mamak restaurant recently. It all started with a friendly chat about the call by Penang Opposition Leader, Jahara Hamid to remove a Taoist shrine from Armenian Park in Georgetown.

“You are a Muslim. Tell me why Muslims do this?” asked an uncle who joined me for my morning nasi lemak.

“Apparently they are confused,” I replied with a chuckle.

“I don’t think so. This is something they are doing on purpose. You should know – you are a Muslim.”

Getting somewhat defensive, I blurted, “Not all Muslims are the same.”

“So you don’t practice your religion?” the uncle shot back.

Realising the conversation had taken a serious turn, I tried explaining: “I do practice my religion to the best of my ability. But that is not what we are talking about here.”

“It is precisely what we are talking about. The lady who wanted the shrine to be removed; the man who wanted ‘No Pork’ signs to be banned, the group who wanted the cross taken down – you all have the same faith. You all read the same Holy Book…”

“I disagree. You can’t judge everyone based on the conduct of a small group of Muslims. I do not go around persecuting people. I do not go around telling people how to live their lives. I support freedom and human rights. I am no extremist. Most Muslims are not extremists.” I was clearly upset by now.

“Girl, you follow your Holy Book and so does the confused Muslims and the extreme Muslims. If all Muslims accept the one and only Holy Book and live by it, they are no different from one another. They are all extremists – including you.”

“I disagree. I do not condone discrimination, violence and terrorism. Islam is not a religion of violence. Islam is a religion of peace,” I argued, as the uncle had gotten on my nerves with his blanket judgements.

“Your Holy Book promotes violence. There is even a verse saying: ‘Go and kill.’ Now how can a religion which promotes killings be a peaceful religion?”

“There are more than six thousand verses in our Holy Book – why emphasise on the negatives? Why aren’t you talking about the messages of kindness, love and compassion in most of the verses?” I countered, not realising that I had raised my voice in the process.

The uncle laughed, “Girl, religion is not like a plate of mee goreng you order at a mamak shop. You don’t get to tambah pedas or kurang pedas; tambah taugeh or takdak taugeh; tambah telur or tambah ayam. You can’t be selective of which content suits you and drop those you disagree with.”

The uncle got me thinking. If a good Muslim accepts every single verse in the Holy Book without any argument, does that make me, a cherry-picking liberal Muslim and a moderate, a bad Muslim?

I went home that day, quite confused.

There are approximately 30 million people in Malaysia, 60% of whom are Muslims. If a mere 1% of Malaysia’s 18 million Muslims are extremists, why is it that we haven’t witnessed violence or crime perpetrated by some 180,000 extremists?

Clearly, that could mean only one thing – extreme Malaysian Muslims don’t even make up 1% of our Muslim population. That makes me wonder – why then did the uncle get so worked up over a tiny number of people?

More importantly, if 99% of Malaysian Muslims are non-extremists, why haven’t we seen even 1% of the 17,820,000 non-extremists fighting against extremism in our country?

Maybe that’s what makes us – the non-extreme, moderate ones – bad Muslims. We do not fight injustice and cruelty. We are after all, moderates – in thinking and behaviour. We can talk for hours about Arabisation, Islamaphobia, Zakir Naik, Zionist and Shariah law.

But when it comes to fighting extremism and terrorism, we hide behind our moderate robe. That’s the problem with being a moderate Muslim. We tolerate nonsense.

Perhaps that is also why we moderates like to insist that Islam is a peaceful religion – it allows us to justify our laid back attitude. In response to any extreme movement, we, the moderates peacefully make a peaceful statement, clarifying how peaceful Islam is, so we can get back to our peaceful lives, sipping kopi O at Kedai Kopi Ahmad.

In conclusion, although I do not agree with the uncle on most counts, I believe he got one thing right – we are not good Muslims. As long as we tolerate nonsense, the moderates are equally as bad as the extremists.

Lankan Tamils commemorate death anniversary of civil war victims

Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated Northern province on Wednesday commemorated the civilians who died during the civil war between the LTTE and the army. The ceremony was held on the 7th anniversary of the end of the three-decade long brutal conflict, with chief minister CV Wigneswaran asserting that "not everyone who died during the war was a terrorist."

Addressing a ceremony held at Vellamullivaikkal, in the northeastern Mullaitivu district, Wigneswaran said, "We are here to commemorate the civilians. It is necessary to seek out what happened to these people, since a lot of civilians lost their lives due to the war."

Wigneswaran said that those in the South of the country interpreted the commemoration ceremony as a "tribute to the terrorists", who were killed during the conflict.

A five-minute silence was observed in memory of the victims as well as religious observances.

A similar commemoration was also held at Jaffna University.

The government has banned the commemoration of the fallen LTTE cadres in the conflict and it remains a banned terrorist organisation in Sri Lanka.

Government forces killed the Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on 18 May 2009, after a brutal military crackdown, and put an end to the 37-year conflict, which claimed at least 1,00,000 lives.

President Maithripala Sirisena took power in January 2015 promising reconciliation and a reduction in the military's involvement in public life and pledging that those guilty of war crimes would be held accountable.

The new government has abandoned a controversial military "victory" parade and has instead gone in for a more sombre remembrance ceremony to mark the day.

Earlier, parades celebrated the victory of the Sinhalese military over the minority Tamils, who were banned from remembering their dead as commemoration of fallen rebels was thought anti-state.

EgyptAir jet missing after mid-air plunge, Greeks find life vests

Greek rescue workers found lifevests and bits of plastic floating in the Mediterranean after an EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar in what Egypt said could have been a terrorist attack.

The Egyptian civil aviation ministry said Greek authorities had found "floating material" and life jackets likely to be from the plane. Greek defense sources told Reuters they had found pieces of plastic and two lifevests in the sea 230 miles (370 km) south of the island of Crete.

"All I will say is that our embassy in Athens told us that it was contacted by Greek authorities, who signaled that they found white and blue debris corresponding to EgyptAir's colors," Egyptian ambassador to France Ehab Badawy told France's BFM television. However, Greek sources told Reuters the material they had found so far was not blue and white.

If confirmed as material from the plane, the discovery could help provide clues to its fate. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation for the crash, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last year.

The country's aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure.

Greece had deployed aircraft and a frigate to search for the missing Airbus. Egypt said it would lead the investigation and France would participate. Paris said three investigators would arrive in Egypt on Thursday evening.

In Washington, President Barack Obama received a briefing on the disappearance from his adviser for homeland security and counter-terrorism, the White House said. A White House spokesman said it was too early to know the cause of the crash and offered condolences to the victims.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus swerved 90 degrees to the left, spun through 360 degrees to the right and plunged from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens.

According to Greece's civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to flight MS804 went unanswered just before it left Greek airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards.

There was no official indication of a possible cause, whether technical failure, human error or sabotage. Ultra-hardline Islamists have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.

The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers - with one child and two infants among them - and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries.

Asked if he could rule terrorist involvement, Prime Minister Ismail told reporters: "We cannot exclude anything at this time or confirm anything. All the search operations must be concluded so we can know the cause."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egyptair-airplane-idUSKCN0YA08W

Fewer child marriage cases now, says ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: There were 9,061 child marriages recorded over the last five years, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry said.

However, its deputy minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said the trend has been going down over the last three years.

She said 6,286 Muslim youths - below 18 for males and 16 for females - tied the knot between 2010 and 2015 following approval by the syariah courts.

"A total of 2,775 underage non-Muslim marriages were recorded by the National Registration Department in the same period," she said when replying to a question by Datuk Sapawi Ahmad Wasali (BN-Sipitang) in the Dewan Rakyat Thursday.

Although the legal age of marriage for non-Muslims is 18, those below 16 can still get married with the approval of the chief ministers or under customary laws of Sabah and Sarawak.

Based on syariah court records, she said there had been an increase in Muslim child marriages between 2010 and 2012 - from 891 cases in 2010 to 1,045 in 2011 and 1,095 cases in 2012.

"However, the number decreased to 1,090 in 2013, 1,032 in 2014 and 1,025 last year," she said.

Azizah said the same trend was noted for non-Muslim child marriages in the same period.

Although amendments to the Child Act were made last year, Azizah said there are no provisions on child marriages because the matter is governed under family law.

However, she said the ministry is taking measures to address the issue through reproductive health education, awareness programmes and counselling.

Indira’s lawyer to ask IGP for progress on manhunt for fugitive ex-husband

PUTRAJAYA, May 19 — M. Indira Gandhi’s lawyer today said he will request the Inspector-General of Police to provide updates on the outstanding arrest warrant for her ex-husband, Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.

Lawyer M. Kulasegaran reminded Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar of the Federal Court’s decision last month that said the Ipoh High Court will monitor the progress of the police’s execution of the arrest warrant.

“So we will now write to the IGP, ask him what are the actions he has taken… If not, we will go to courts and enforce against him,” he told reporters here, without giving a timeframe to do so.

Kulasegaran said Muhammad Riduan’s lawyer, Hatim Musa, had received instructions from the latter’s client for a court matter today, but declined to say if he had asked Hatim of Muhammad Riduan’s whereabouts.

Indira, an Ipoh-based kindergarten teacher, said she hoped the IGP was also taking action to find her youngest child Prasana Diksa, who was snatched away by Muhammad Riduan seven years ago.

The Ipoh High Court granted custody of all three children to Indira and ordered Muhammad Riduan in 2014 to return the youngest child, but he did not comply.

The Ipoh High Court then ordered Muhammad Riduan’s arrest for contempt of court, later issuing a mandamus order the same year to compel the police to arrest him and return Prasana Diksa to Indira.

On April 29, the Federal Court said the Ipoh High Court should not have asked the police to recover the youngest child due to conflicting child custody orders from both the civil courts and Shariah courts.

Indira Gandhi wins leave to challenge children’s unilateral conversion

PUPUTRAJAYA, May 19 — The Federal Court today allowed Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi to go ahead with her challenge against the validity of the unilateral conversion of her three children by her Muslim convert ex-husband.

The Federal Court gave its order after senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said the federal government was not objecting to two of the eight questions of law previously posed by Indira.

“Application is allowed in terms of question one, five and the additional question submitted,” Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin said.

The two other judges on today’s panel are Tan Sri Abu Samah Nordin and Datuk Aziah Ali.

Today’s decision means the Federal Court will consider three questions of law in its hearing of Indira’s appeal.

They are:

― Whether the civil High Court has exclusive jurisdiction to review the actions of the Registrar of Muallafs (converts) or his delegates as public authorities exercising statutory powers vested by the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Perak) Enactment 2004;

― Whether a child of a civil marriage that has yet to turn 18 must comply with both Sections 96(1) and 106(b) of the Perak Enactment or similar provisions under other state laws before the Registrar of Muallafs may register the child’s conversion to Islam;

― Whether the mother and the father (if both are still surviving) of a child of a civil marriage must consent before a certificate of conversion to Islam can be issued in respect of that child.

The last was submitted today by Indira’s lawyer K. Shanmuga as an alternative to two earlier questions.

Shanmuga had also asked the Federal Court to consider an initial eighth question of law: whether the Malaysian government’s ratification of international conventions on children and women gave rise to a legitimate expectation that the Perak state government would act according to these conventions.

But Zulkefli said Indira’s appeal bid has “nothing to do with international conventions”.

Perak state legal adviser Datuk Rohana Abd Malek and Hatim Musa represented the state government and Indira’s ex-husband respectively.

Lawyers Andrew Khoo and Goh Siu Lin held watching briefs for the Bar Council and 10 women groups respectively.

Outside the courtroom, Indira’s lawyer M. Kulasegaran later said he hopes that a “full Bench” will hear his client’s appeal instead of the typical five-man panel at the Federal Court.

“The only thing we are hoping is for early trial and a full Bench to sit on this matter because it is fundamentally important,” he said, noting that there could be as many as nine judges on a full panel.

Indira had applied for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s 2-1 ruling last December, where it said only the Shariah courts have the jurisdiction to decide on the validity of a person’s conversion.

The Court of Appeal had set aside the Ipoh High Court’s 2013 judgement, which found that the three children had not been validly converted to Islam and declared their conversion certificates null and void.

In her legal challenge against the children’s unilateral conversion, Indira had named the Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk) director, the Registrar of Muallaf, the Perak state government, the Education Ministry, the government of Malaysia and Indira’s ex-husband K. Pathmanathan as respondents.

After converting to Islam on March 11, 2009, Pathmanathan — now Muhammad Riduan Abdullah — left the house almost three weeks later with their youngest child.

On April 2, 2009, he then converted all three children to Islam without their knowledge and presence, and without Indira’s consent, before going to the Shariah courts several days later to obtain custody over them.

Indira’s eldest daughter Tevi Darsiny is now an adult at 19 while her brother Karan Dinish turns 18 in October; both will be old enough to decide their own faiths. Eight-year-old Prasana Diksa’s location remains unknown after being snatched by Muhammad Riduan seven years ago.

I never treated Umno as private property, Mahathir returns fire

Indulging in crude potshots, Dr Mahathir Mohamad accused Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of turning Umno into his private property.

On two occasions, the former premier referred to how Umno has been turned into "Najis (filth)".

He was responding to the prime minister who accused him of biting the hand that fed him, claiming that Mahathir and his family reaped enormous benefits from Umno and BN.

This was after the former premier urged the opposition to be united to defeat BN in the upcoming by-elections.

"He also gained a lot from Umno,” said Mahathir. "But I never treated it (the party) as my private property."

"He's now changed Umno to 'Najis (filth), I mean Najib," he told reporters in Subang Jaya.

He had uttered the same crude remark during a question and answer session earlier.

"In my heart I am still an Umno man. But now Umno is a 'parti Najis' (filthy party)... Najib," he had said, to roaring laughter from the crowd.

Mahathir is spearheading a campaign to oust Najib, dubbed the Citizens' Declaration, which has allegedly amassed more than one million signatures.

The former premier accuses the prime minister of corruption and putting the country at great financial risk over the 1MDB scandal.

He has even called on voters to ensure that BN loses in the upcoming twin by-elections in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar to teach Najib a lesson.

Najib has denied all accusations against him.

Dr M yet to get audience with Agong, claims 'house arrest'

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has revealed that he is unable to secure an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to submit the more than one million signatures collected for the Citizens' Declaration.

Following this, the former prime minister made a startling remark that he believes the rulers are under house arrest.

"We have got 1.4 million signatures, and we've been trying to show them to the Agong.

"But as of now I've not been able to meet the Agong because it's likely that he's under house arrest.

"The rulers may be confined to their palaces," Mahathir said at an event in Subang Jaya.

He said this while lamenting that critics of the government would be barred from leaving the country.

"So I'm going to Japan and Korea, and I'm going to praise Najib's character.

"He can be higher than the sky, even as high as Mars.

"This is a great leader. We are free to say what we like about what is good about him," he quipped.

It has been revealed that the Immigration Department was blacklisting those who make disparaging remarks about the government.

'If Taib's wife can be citizen, M'sian-born stateless kids can, too'

The government must give citizenship to stateless children if it can easily do the same for Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud's wife in six years, DAP's Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching said.

She said between 2008 and 2015, a total of 47,232 foreigners married to Malaysians were granted citizenship.

This includes those from Indonesia (19,935), India (5,228) and Cambodia (2,387).

However, between 2011 and April 2016, a total of 131,810 children in Malaysia were recorded as 'non-citizens'.

Most could not be registered as Malaysians because their Malaysian fathers did not register their marriage to a foreign spouse before the children were born, she said.

This despite the children being born in Malaysia, she said.

The federal constitution states anyone born in the federation, whose parents at the time of the birth were citizens or permanent residents of the federation, are citizens of Malaysia.

She said the federal constitution did not require the children's parents to register their marriage prior to the birth, for the children to be registered as Malaysians.

However, because of the administrative ruling, the children are considered non-citizens and have to pay full fees at public hospitals, nor are they entitled to free textbooks in school or enrol in public primary and secondary schools.

Neither will they enjoy subsidised fees at public universities, apply for student loans through the National Higher Education Loan Scheme (PTPTN) or obtain a passport.

"With all these challenges, the children will have great difficulties to excel in life and they will also have a problem to get a job," she said in a statement.

"Children should not be made victims due to their parents' carelessness.

"If we can give citizenship to foreigners, including those from Indonesia, India and Cambodia, why can't we grant citizenship to the children of our own Malaysian citizens based on humanitarian grounds?" she asked.

Yesterday, DAP's Batu Kawan MP Kashturi Patto questioned how Ragad Taib can obtain a citizenship in a relatively short six years after marrying the governor.