Catamaran capsized in Malaysian waters — witness

KOTA KINABALU: The catamaran which capsized on its way to Mengalum Island on Chinese New Year last year was affirmed to be in Malaysia waters.

Deputy director of survey Sr Mohammad Zaki Mohd Ghazali, 54, of the Survey and Mapping Department Malaysia (JUPEM), testified that he had made a report and had plotted confirmation of coordinates which showed that the catamaran was in Malaysia waters.

He was testifying before Sessions Court judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim as the 37th witness in the trial involving the catamaran tragedy last year.

Three persons, Sharezza Salian, 25, the skipper, together with Leong Vin Jee, 44, the operations manager of Golden Sailing Travel Company, and Chung Ket Siew @ Chung Siaw Ping, 64, who was the owner of Golden Sailing Travel Company, face up to 10 charges involving the catamaran which sank on its way to Pulau Mengalum in January 28, 2017.

They claimed trial to the charges which were read to them on March 16, 2017.

The trio were charged separately with causing hurt to 20 passengers, all from China aged between 17 and 50, by taking the boat to the sea so negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others. The alleged offence was framed under Section 337 of the Penal Code.

Sharezza, Leong and Chung were also alleged to have negligently caused the death of four China nationals, including two women, aged between 27 and 49, but not amounting to culpable homicide. The charges were framed under Section 304A of the Penal Code.

Sharezza and Leong also face two joint charges of failure to keep on the passenger boat the appropriate safety equipment at all times and for embarking the passengers at Kampung Tanjung Aru Lama Jetty here, which is not a designated landing point.

The alleged offences were framed under Rule 16 of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licensed Small Ships) Regulations 2008 and Rule 13 of the Ports and Harbours (Ports, Harbours and Dues) Regulations 2008, respectively.

Meanwhile, Leong and his mother Chung, were jointly accused of failing to keep the boat licence on the passenger boat at all times, and were charged under Rule 9 of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licensed Small Ships) Regulations 2008.

Chung is also alleged to have employed Sharezza as the skipper of the boat without altering and reporting the particulars of the skipper to the nearest licensing authority, an offence framed under Rule 13 of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licensed Small Ships) Regulations 2008.

All of the alleged offences were committed at Kampung Tanjung Aru Lama Jetty, a travel company at Asia City here and the waters off the coast of Mengalum Island between 9.15am and 11am on January 28, 2017.

Under examination in chief by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Nartiah F. Mirchelle Sambatan, Mohammad Zaki said he received a letter dated February 9, 2017 from the Topographic Section of JUPEM Sabah which was an application to get confirmation of two coordinate locations of the sunken boat.

Then he made the report as ordered by his division director and sent the result back to JUPEM Sabah through a letter dated February 17, 2017.

“Based on the plot result, the catamaran coordinates are in Malaysian waters.

“The plot of the coordinate locations are as in Appendix A, in reference to the JUPEM letter... dated February 17, 2017,¨ he said.

He also said he had used a special software, Mapinfo, for mapping purposes based on Malaysia’s 1979 map where the coordinate values were inserted into the software to get the plot result.

DPP Nartiah appeared together with a DPP from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Nurun Nazifah Muhammad Iyen.

Leong and his mother Chung are defended by counsels Edward Paul and Elffie Johnny while Sharezza is defended by counsel Benazir Japiril Bandaran under the National Legal Aid Foundation (NLAF).

The trial continues today.

Nurul Izzah’s suit: No malice on part of ex-IGP and minister, court told

KUALA LUMPUR: There was no malice on the part of former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob when they commented on a photograph showing PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar meeting with Jacel Kiram, the daughter of self proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalulail Kiram.

This was senior federal counsel Normastura Ayub’s submission yesterday, in the defamation case against the duo by Nurul Izzah, who is also Pantai member of parliament.

“They made the statements in response to questions from the press at separate functions which were unrelated to the issue. They were merely stating their opinion,” Normastura, who is representing both defendants, told the High Court.

Meanwhile, the plaintiff’s counsel R. Sivarasa submitted that the defendants failed to show evidence that the meeting between Nurul Izzah and Jacel Kiram was planned and not a coincidence.

Sivarasa also said Khalid had not been telling the truth because the statement he made at the media conference and his testimony in court were not the same.

Judicial commissioner Datuk Faizah Jamaludin set April 9 for decision. During the trial, three witnesses testified on the plaintiff’s side – Nurul Izzah, her father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR vice president Tian Chua or Chua Tian Chang, and two witnesses, on the defendants’ side – Ismail Sabri and Khalid.

Nurul Izzah filed the suit on Nov 26, 2015, alleging that Khalid had disparaged her in a media conference at Bukit Aman Police Headquarters on Nov 22, 2015 and Ismail Sabri, at a function in Bera, Pahang the same day.

She claimed their statements implied that she was a traitor to the country and party to the militant intrusion in Sabah in 2013 which Jamalulail Kiram allegedly orchestrated.