GEORGE TOWN: Two friends charged with the murder of a man in Bayan Baru, four years ago, escaped the gallows after the High Court here Monday acquitted and discharged them of the charge.
Judicial Commissioner Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered B. Dharma Raj, 25 and A. Oliver, 26 to be released after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.
Dharma Raj, a general worker and Oliver, a restaurant assistant were accused of murdering R. Navintharan, 24, at 3.40am at Krystal Point parking area in Bayan Baru on Jan 27, 2012.
They were jointly charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same Code.
In his judgment, Collin Lawrence said there were contradictions in the testimonies of the five prosecution witnesses on the presence of the two accused at the scene.
He said the defence had proven that there were many others who attacked the victim which resulted in his death.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Siti Fatimah Talib while the first accused, Dharma Raj was represented by counsel Baldev Singh Dhar and the second accused, Oliver, was represented by counsel Dev Kumaraendran. - Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: The Rakyat Post news portal closed shop today.
The company, owned by Wespacom Sdn Bhd, told its staff of the decision to cease operations at a meeting with several representatives of its 60 employees at Menara MBSB here on Monday.
It told its employees that they would have to lodge a complaint with the Labour Department or seek industrial action in order to get their two months’ unpaid salaries.
Earlier, around 15 employees had showed up to seek guidance from the Labour Department office in Subang Jaya, on the steps required to lodge a formal complaint against the company.
Speaking to reporters, the group's representative Michael Murty said the staff had not received any indication in the past that there was a problem with funding, adding that they were usually paid on the third of every month.
“In December they (the employers) said that there was problem with funding. For January, we got our (December) salaries, one or two days later than usual. They said that there was trouble in finding funding, but they managed to do it,” he said.
Murty claimed that the company had missed the date stipulated by law to pay their salaries, which is on the seventh of each month, and eventually asked the staff to go on paid leave.
He added that last Wednesday, staff members were told by the company to give them one last week to either find the money, or they would temporarily shut down the portal.
“(There is) No real reason why there is no funding,” said Murty.
“We will definitely file a complaint with the labour office and individually, we might file other complaints but that will come later,” he said.
An employee said the move had affected his ability to make ends meet, adding that he had resorted to taking up various side jobs such as becoming an Uber driver.
Another employee said most reporters had been working from home since the middle of January, and had not been on any assignments since the start of the month.
The portal’s English desk staff had been asked to go on paid leave on Feb 11, while the Mandarin desk, four days later.
The news portal's management announced on its Facebook page after a meeting with the staff, saying "over the coming months, we will be undergoing restructuring and looking at solving our funding issues."
“Once again, from everyone on the editorial team of The Rakyat Post, we thank you for having stayed with us,” the Facebook post said.
A file picture of convicted murderer La Ode Ardi Rasila being led away by police officers.
PUTRAJAYA: A former security guard who was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering an AmBank officer three years ago has lost his final appeal in the Federal Court.
Chairing a five-man panel, Court of Appeal President Justice Md Raus Sharif said the decision was unanimous.
Justice Md Raus said the court affirmed the conviction and death sentence against La Ode Ardi Rasila, 39, meted out by the Shah Alam High Court.
La Ode was charged with killing Norazita Abu Talib and firing a pump gun while committing robbery with the intention of causing Norazita's death.
On July 30 last year, the Court of Appeal upheld La Ode 's conviction and death sentence.
On Aug 14, 2014, Shah Alam High Court judge Justice Akhtar Tahir, in convicting La Ode, held that he had wilfully fired the shot at the victim to commit robbery.
KUALA LUMPUR: A woman threw her newborn baby girl from the 18th floor of a block of flats in Danau Kota, Setapak, here, immediately after giving birth to the child.
Wangsa Maju OCPD Supt Mohamad Roy Suhaimi Sarif said residents found the infant lying lifeless on the grass and her placenta 30m away at around 8.30am Monday.
"Police located the mother's unit on the 18th floor of Block C. There was a trail of blood from the toilet to the balcony.
"The 39-year-old woman was renting the unit with a married couple. She was living with her five-year-old daughter.
"She seemed stunned when she was arrested," he added.
Supt Roy said the woman was believed to have given birth to the baby between 3am and 4am on Monday.
The couple renting the unit with her heard screams of pain coming from their shared bathroom and rushed to help the woman.
"They saw her bleeding but had no idea that she had just given birth. They escorted her to her room and tried helping her but she was hostile towards them.
"They said her behaviour changed drastically and she blamed them for helping her. They had no idea that she was pregnant and had always thought that she was big-sized.
"We believe she threw the baby out immediately after giving birth," he said.
Supt Roy said the woman, who is a real estate agent, was from Negri Sembilan and was in the process of divorcing her husband. She started renting the flat unit November last year.
She has been sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital to undergo mental assessment.
"We are tracking down her husband to help in the investigations," he said.
Kuala Lumpur: Pelakon dan penyanyi, Ayda Jebat, 24, menepati ramalan ramai apabila memenangi kesemua pencalonan termasuk kategori utama Top Top MeleTOP (Wanita) pada Anugerah MeleTOP Era 2016 (AME 2016) yang diadakan di Pusat Konvensyen CIDB di sini, malam tadi.
Ayda atau nama sebenarnya Nur Suhada Jebat turut memenangi Penyanyi MeleTOP, Lagu MeleTOP, Drama MeleTOP dan Pelakon MeleTOP.
Kemenangan Ayda itu sekali gus membawa pulang hadiah wang tunai berjumlah RM30,000 berserta trofi sumbangan Astro.
Pelawak dan penyampai radio, Johan turut menggondol lima trofi termasuk kategori utama Top Top MeleTOP (Lelaki).
Johan atau nama sebenarnya Muhammad Yazid Lim, 32, turut memenangi kategori Couple MeleTOP, Program Radio MeleTOP, Penyampai Radio MeleTOP dan Pelawak MeleTOP.
Dengan kemenangan itu, Johan membawa pulang wang tunai keseluruhan berjumlah RM30,000 berserta trofi sumbangan Astro.
Sementara itu, penyanyi nombor satu negara, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza sekali lagi mempertahankan kemenangan kategori Bintang Online MeleTOP bagi tahun kedua.
Pelakon drama Cinta Si Wedding Planner, Mira Filzah berjaya dinobatkan sebagai Artis Baharu MeleTOP.
Kumpulan Akim & The Majistret masih unggul apabila memenangi kategori Grup/Kumpulan MeleTOP bagi tahun kedua.
Pengacara, Datuk AC Mizal juga turut mempertahankan trofi kategori Hos MeleTOP selain memenangi kategori Fesyen MeleTOP.
Pelawak, pengacara dan pelakon, Zizan Razak mencipta kejutan apabila diumumkan pemenang kategori Bintang Filem MeleTOP manakala filem lakonannya, Polis Evo diumumkan sebagai Filem MeleTOP.
Buat pertama kalinya juga, AME 2016 memperkenalkan kategori Anugerah Khas MeleTOP.
Anugerah ini dimenangi pengulas sukan veteran, Zulkarnain Hassan dan membawa pulang wang tunai berjumlah RM20,000.
Bagi setiap kategori pemenang menerima wang tunai RM5,000 berserta trofi dan kategori utama sebanyak RM10,000 beserta trofi.
AME 2016 dihoskan oleh Datuk AC Mizal, Nabil Ahmad, Noor Neelofa dan Jihan Muse.
Acara pada malam itu turut diserikan dengan persembahan daripada Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, Ella, Joe Flizzow, De Fam, Siti Nordiana, Syamel, Ayda Jebat, Waris, Amira Othman, Akim & The Majistret, SonaOne, Stacy, Jaclyn Victor, Forteen, KRU dan ramai lagi.
AME 2016 disiarkan secara langsung di saluran Astro Ria dan Astro Maya HD.
Senarai penuh pemenang AME 2015:
1. Top Top MeleTOP Lelaki - Johan
2. Top Top MeleTOP Wanita - Ayda Jebat
3. Anugerah Fesyen MeleTOP - Datuk AC Mizal
4. Artis Baharu MeleTOP - Mira Filzah
5. Bintang Online MeleTOP - Datuk Siti Nurhaliza
6. Anugerah Couple MeleTOP - Johan & Ozlynn
7. Program Radio MeleTOP - Johara Pagi Era
8. Grup/Duo MeleTOP - Akim & The Majestrit
9. Penyanyi MeleTOP - Ayda Jebat
10. Lagu MeleTOP - Ayda Jebat (Siapa Diriku)
11. Program TV MeleTOP - Gegar Vaganza 2015
12. Drama TV MeleTOP - M.A.I.D
13. Host MeleTOP - Datuk AC Mizal
14. Artis Lawak MeleTOP - Johan
15. Pelakon MeleTOP - Ayda Jebat
16. Bintang Filem MeleTOP - Zizan Razak
17. Filem MeleTOP - Polis Evo
18. Penyampai Radio MeleTOP - Johan
19. Anugerah Khas MeleTOP - Zulkarnain Hass
- See more at: http://www.hmetro.com.my/node/118826#sthash.E4sA7bif.dpuf
