Jamal pleads not guilty to charge of fleeing police custody
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno politician Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos has pleaded not
guilty to a charge of fleeing police custody.
Jamal - who claimed trial to the offence on Thursday (July 5) - said he had thought he had previously completed the remand process properly, and that he thought there were no further instructions for him to follow.
The police launched a manhunt for him after it was discovered that he was missing from his ward at Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital on May 25.
He appeared before the Ampang magistrate’s court at about 5.05pm on Thursday.
His defense lawyer Izzat Amir said that Jamal had fled police custody without completing the bail process due to a miscommunication.
If found guilty of the offence under Section 224 of the Penal Code, the Sungai Besar Umno division chief would face a jail term of up to two years, a fine or both upon conviction.
No bail was granted for Jamal and the case was fixed for mention for July 30.
He has since been transferred to the Sungai Buloh Prison and will remain there until the case is brought up for mention.
The prosecution team is made up of Datuk Razali Che Ani, Mahadhir Mohd Khairuddin and Faten Hadni Khairuddin.
Jamal was arrested while having a haircut in Jakarta on July 2, and had been brought to the Ampang Courts Complex directly after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport earlier Thursday.
He is being investigated for at least six offences, including creating public nuisance by breaking bottles of alcohol to protest the Better Beer Festival at the Selangor state secretariat building on Oct 5 last year.
An arrest warrant for him was issued on June 1 for the offence of escaping or resisting police custody.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/07/05/jamal-pleads-not-guilty-to-charge-of-fleeing-police-custody/#v8P6OQAY8jBAIw8s.99
A nightmarish life on the run, says Jamal in court
Ho Kit Yen | July 5, 2018
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Fugitive Umno divisional leader says he had been 'frightened' by police and MACC raids after the change in government.
Umno divisional leader Jamal Yunos was refused bail after being extradited from Indonesia. (Bernama pic)
AMPANG: Umno divisional leader Jamal Yunos told a magistrate’s court today that he had lived a nightmarish two months while he was on the run in Indonesia before being arrested and deported.
He was taken to court straight from the airport to face a criminal charge of attempting to escape custody, to which he pleaded not guilty.
He failed to persuade the magistrate to grant him bail, and was ordered to be remanded until his case is next mentioned on July 30.
In his plea for bail, Jamal said the life he led in Indonesia for almost two months had been a “nightmare”.
“I would not want to live that life again, and I hope to clear my name from whatever charges I have,” he said from the dock. He urged the court to allow him bail. “I promise to go to the police station every day.”
He was calm and composed while addressing the court. He did not elaborate on his experiences while on the run.
“I wanted to surrender to the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta but was arrested when I arrived from Sumatra,” he said.
Jamal, head of Sungai Besar Umno and leader of the Red Shirt movement, disappeared in May from a hospital ward where he had been charged with another offence and granted bail. He had been sought by police since, and was arrested on Monday by Indonesian police.
He told the magistrate that he thought his bail process had been completed after he was charged.
“I signed the documents for my remand release in the afternoon (of May 25) and once I was done signing the papers, there were no more police in the hospital. I thought I was freed from remand,” Jamal said.
He added that if he had wanted to run, he would have done it before he was charged that week.
As a political leader, Jamal said he was very cooperative whenever under police investigation. However he had been “frightened” by several raids conducted by the police and Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission after the change of government in May.
“I am scared the government will persecute me,” he said.
The magistrate, Mohamad Firdaus Sadina Ali, ordered him to be remanded in custody.
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