GEORGE TOWN: A Sessions Court here has sentenced Indonesian maid Hanni Seo to jail for four years and eight months for attacking her female employer.
Hanni, from Kupang in West Timor, was charged with attacking her employer Phang Kian Huang, 42, with a wooden stool, stone mortar and knife, at Phang’s house in Rifle Range, Air Itam, at 10am on Feb 26.
The offence under Section 307(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years upon conviction. - The Star.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- The Home Minister who is supposed to be responsible for approving visas with reference code VDR (calling visas for Bangladesh workers), authorised the Immigration Department director-general (DG) to handle the task from June 2008, the Sessions Court here was told Monday.
Testifying in the corruption trial of former Immigration Department DG Datuk Wahid Md Don, Muhammad Hanif Asa'ari, 32, the special aide of Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar (the Home Minister then), said Syed Hamid delegated the task to the DG as he had to spend too much time approving each application, which was made using the online method.
Muhammad Hanif, who is the prosecution's third witness, said Wahid on June 10 2008 made an application for the password to enable him to handle the task on and it was approved by Syed Hamid the next day via a letter but with certain conditions attached.
"They were the minister's password would not be revoked and that the DG had to submit weekly and monthly reports on the visa applications to him (Syed Hamid)," said Muhammad while displaying the letter dated June 11 2008.
The letter also stated that approvals could only be made at the DG level.
Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Jazamuddin Mohd Nawawi during examination-in-chief as to what grounds Wahid used to apply for permission to make the approvals, Muhammad Hanif said : "He stated that the number of applications for the VDR visas were rather high, standing at 22,854, and it was estimated 91,607 applications had yet to be submitted."
On Aug 19 last year, Wahid, 57, was charged with accepting a bribe of RM60,000 from businessman Datuk Low Chang Hian to expedite the VDR applications of 4,337 Bangladeshi workers.
He is alleged to have committed the offence at his house in Jalan Lembah Ledang, off Jalan Duta here at 10.15pm on July 10, 2008.
He has been charged under Section 1 (a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 and is liable to be jailed not less than 14 days and not more than 20 years, fined not less less than five times the corrupt amount or RM10,000, whichever is is higher, if convicted.
Cross-examined by counsel Datuk V. Sithambaramm, who is representing Wahid, whether Muhammad Hanif knew why the DG submitted the application for the minister's permission to approve the visas, Muhammad Hanif said: "Generally, at the time, because of the heavy workload the minister had, he no longer was able to handle approving the huge number of VDR applications individually and indicated the need to hand over the task to the DG."
To a suggestion by Sithambaram that what was told during the meeting (on the matter) that all applications to get VDR visas cound only be processed at the DG level was not accurate, Muhammad Hanif said if it was based on the minutes it was accurate.
However, he agreed that the minister's decision to keep the password to enable him to access the website for the applications was in conflict with what was decided at the meeting.
Muhammad Hanif also said while Syed Hamid was still handling the responsibility, in June and till July 12 of that year he had approved VDR applications but did not know the number.
Sithambaram had earlier asked him if he knew the minister had approved 2,824 and 3,984 applications respectively in the two months.
The hearing before judge Rosbiahanin Arifin continues on Wednesday. -- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR: Perbicaraan kes rasuah bekas Ketua Pengarah Imigresen, Datuk Wahid Md Don di Mahkamah Sesyen di sini hari ini diberitahu bahawa Menteri Dalam Negeri ketika itu Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar yang bertanggungjawab meluluskan visa dengan rujukan pekerja Bangladesh telah menyerahkan kuasa itu kepada Ketua Pengarah Imigresen mulai Jun 2008.
Muhammad Hanif Asa''ari, 32, bekas Pegawai Khas kepada Syed Hamid, berkata menteri berkenaan memutuskan perkara itu kerana tidak mahu lagi meluluskan perkara itu dengan alasan beliau (Syed Hamid) terpaksa meluangkan masa untuk membuat keputusan secara online bagi setiap permohonan.
"Selepas beliau buat keputusan tidak mahu buat, beliau ada arahkan melalui mesyuarat pasca (kabinet) supaya tugas meluluskan permohonan secara online diserahkan pada Ketua Pengarah Imigresen," kata saksi ketiga pendakwaan itu.
"Menteri bersetuju dengan permohonan itu (Wahid) bagaimanapun kata laluan Menteri tidak perlu dibatalkan dan di masa yang sama Ketua Pengarah Imigresen perlu membentangkan laporan mingguan dan bulanan kepada beliau," kata Muhammad Hanif sambil merujuk kepada sepucuk surat yang bertarikh 11 Jun 2008.
Surat itu juga menyatakan persetujuan supaya kelulusan dibuat di peringkat Ketua Pengarah Imigresen sahaja.
Pada 19 Ogos tahun lalu, Wahid, 57, didakwa menerima rasuah RM60,000 daripada ahli perniagaan Datuk Low Chang Hian sebagai bayaran upah bagi mempercepatkan kelulusan permohonan 4,337 visa pekerja Bangladesh .
Dia didakwa melakukan kesalahan itu di rumahnya di Jalan Lembah Ledang, off Jalan Duta, pada jam 10.15 malam 10 Julai 2008. Pertuduhan adalah mengikut Seksyen 11 (a) Akta Pencegahan Rasuah 1997 dan boleh dihukum mengikut Seksyen 16 akta yang sama iaitu penjara tidak kurang dari 14 hari dan tidak lebih 20 tahun, dan didenda tidak kurang daripada lima kali ganda nilai suapan atau RM10,000, atau mana-mana yang lebih tinggi.
Kepada soalan peguam Datuk V. Sithambaram yang mewakili Wahid sama ada beliau mengetahui mengapa Wahid mengemukakan permohonan kebenaran menteri, Muhammad Hanif berkata: "Secara am pada masa itu memang timbul isu yang mana menteri tidak lagi mampu untuk luluskan permohonan VDR tersebut memandangkan beliau mempunyai banyak tugas lain dan beliau juga ada, dalam beberapa keadaan di pejabat, membayangkan untuk menyerahkan tugas berkenaan kepada Ketua Pengarah Imigresen."
Kepada cadangan Sithambaram bahawa apa yang diberitahu di dalam mesyuarat bahawa "semua permohonan untuk dapatkan VDR akan diproses di peringkat Ketua Pengarah Imigresen sahaja" adalah tidak tepat, Muhammad Hanif berkata jika berdasarkan minit itu ia adalah betul.
Bagaimanapun beliau bersetuju bahawa keputusan menteri yang masih menyimpan kata laluan kerana ingin terus meluluskan VDR pada bila-bila masa adalah bercanggah dengan apa yang diputuskan dalam mesyuarat.
Muhammad Hanif berkata ketika beliau masih bertugas iaitu dari 12 Jun hingga 17 Jun 2008 dan 12 Jun hingga 12 Julai 2008, Syed Hamid ada meluluskan VDR beberapa pekerja asing tetapi tidak mengetahui jumlahnya.
Perbicaraan di hadapan Hakim Rosbiahanin Arifin disambung pada Rabu. - Berita Harian.
ALOR STAR: The Social Security Organisation has issued RM248,000 in compounds fines to 43 employers in the state between January and June this year.
State Socso director Ismail Abi Hashim said the compound fines were levied after the companies failed to make their contributions on time.
Besides issuing the compound notices, a total of RM851,000 in arrears of Socso contributions were recovered from the errant companies.
"We will not tolerate companies which fail to carry out their responsibility by defaulting in their contributions," Ismail said at a reward handing over ceremony.
Present was Bakar Bata state assemblyman and State Umno liaison committee deputy chairman Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah
Ismail said the organisation had conducted checks on 2,519 employers within the same period and would complete its inspection on 29,548 companies in the state soon.
He added there are 653,385 employees registered with Socso in Kedah.
Earlier, during the ceremony, Ahmad handed over a total of RM300,000 of compensation to 28 recipients. - NST.
Almost 2,800 Myanmarese were detained at camps in July, more than double the 1,200 in January, partly because of a crackdown on human trafficking, a step-up in raids and a slow economy that leaves the migrants without jobs.
People from Myanmar, a desperately poor country with a military junta, are now the biggest group among the 7,000 foreigners at detention centers in Malaysia.
At a center near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, some 120 men sat in neat rows on the floor.
Many had their legs drawn to their chests, and all were barefoot. There was not enough space and not enough bedding.
"There is no soap for taking a shower, nothing. They don't give us anything," said Kyaw Zin Lin, 23, who said he fled to avoid being drafted into the Myanmar army.
"Every day we eat the food just to survive. ... They treat us like animals."
"It's very difficult to stay here," said Aung Kuh The, a pale 26-year-old.
"We have got a lot of problems. Some people, you know, we want to see the doctor but we don't have the chance."
One reason for the rise in detainees is a crackdown on trafficking.
A report published in April by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations cited firsthand accounts of Myanmarese who said immigration officers turned them over to traffickers.
That practice has all but stopped, Myanmar community leaders in Malaysia say.
Now, though, the Myanmarese are trapped in detention.
The Myanmar embassy often takes six months to register its citizens for deportation and charges them 620 ringgit ($180), much more than neighboring Indonesia.
By contrast, detainees from other countries are typically deported within a week.
Calls to the Myanmar embassy were repeatedly put on hold and then unanswered.
About half the Myanmarese - those fleeing persecution - may qualify for UN refugee status, but that process takes up to four months.
The others are economic migrants. Some 140,000 Myanmarese work in Malaysia, but foreign workers who are laid off lose the right to stay.
Some Myanmarese have spent more than six months in crowded, dirty detention centers.
One man, whose brother was in detention for four months, said he would rather be sold to traffickers from whom he could buy his freedom.
"I prefer to be trafficked," said the man, who would only be identified by his nickname, Ryan, to protect his relatives in Myanmar.
"I don't mind paying 2,000 ringgit ($570)."
Five of Malaysia's 13 detention centers are overcrowded; four of the five have large Myanmarese populations, according to the immigration department.
Journalists from The Associated Press accompanied the human rights group Amnesty International on a rare visit recently to three detention centers just south of Kuala Lumpur, the country's biggest city.
At the Lenggeng Detention Depot, 1,400 people are crammed into dormitories meant for 1,200. Of them about 300 are from Myanmar.
Hundreds of men jostle each other for room in the bare dormitories. One sleeps on a stone ledge in a bathroom.
Each dormitory is fenced by wire mesh and barbed wire, giving detainees just a few meters (feet) of space for walking.
"The detention centers we saw fell short of international standards in many respects, as the immigration authorities themselves acknowledge," said Michael Bochenek of Amnesty International.
"It's a facility of such size that infectious diseases are communicated readily."
Saw Pho Tun, a refugee community leader, said some immigration officers have singled out Myanmarese detainees for rough treatment, beating them and not allowing them medical assistance.
Immigration officials deny beating detainees and say everyone has access to medical care.
On July 1, detainees at another center flung their food trays and damaged some of the mesh fence.
Immigration officials blamed the riot on frustration about having to stay so long, but detainees say they rioted because they were afraid of abuse.
Most of the blocks have now been shut for repairs, so more than 1,000 detainees - including 700 from Myanmar - were transferred to other already crowded centers.
Abdul Rahman Othman, the director general of the Immigration Department, said he was taking steps to prevent his officers from being "entangled" in trafficking syndicates.
He said officers would be rotated to different posts every three years and have a buddy system to supervise each other.
"Ninety-nine percent of us in immigration are good people," he said, denying the problem is widespread.
Police arrested five officers on trafficking allegations last month.
They say their investigations revealed immigration officials took Myanmar immigrants to the Thai border and sold them for up to 600 ringgit ($170) to traffickers.
The traffickers then told the migrants to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) for their freedom, or they would be forced to work in the fishing industry, police said.
Myanmar community leaders said women who failed to pay were sold into prostitution. - AP- The Star.
