Attempted murder charges dropped against Hindraf 31
Following Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s application to withdraw the charge yesterday, Sessions Court judge Nursinah Adzmi acquitted and discharged the 31 who were earlier accused of trying to kill a police officer during the unlawful gathering organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Nov 25.
The 31 were brought to court from the Kajang and Sungai Buloh prisons.
The prosecution also withdrew charges of involvement in the illegal rally and causing mischief against five college students who were among the 31.
The college students – S. Mugilan Dever, 20, S. Ramesh Kumar, 22, K. Thinagaranpillay, 23, L. Thiyagarajan, 31, and A. Vasantarao, 19, – had spent two weeks under detention.
They can return to their studies without fear of being penalised by their colleges since the court has given them a clean slate.
Of the remaining 26 people, G. Suman, 20, was also acquitted of charges of illegal assembly and causing mischief because he had already been similarly charged at the Selayang court early this month.
The charges of taking part in an illegal assembly and causing mischief against the 25 other people were, however, maintained.
The 25 pleaded guilty to the charges yesterday and were each allowed bail of RM500 with one surety pending sentencing on Dec 27.
For causing mischief, they face up to five years' jail and for illegal assembly, a year in jail and a maximum fine of RM10,000.
Businessman K.P. Samy posted bail for them by pledging the title of his land worth RM410,000 to the court.
Ramesh Kumar, a second-year civil engineering student, described his detention at the Sungai Buloh Prison as “sheer hell.”
“I would like to thank all the Indians who had prayed for us,” he said.
Eighteen-year-old Suresh Sinnalah, who has a hole-in-the-heart condition, vowed never to be caught in a similar situation again.
“I don’t feel well and have lost my voice from drinking water directly from the tap in the lock-up,” said Suresh, who spent time in Kajang Prison.
K. Nirmala Devi was relieved that her lorry driver husband V. Ganesan has been freed of the attempted murder charge.
“My husband is the sole breadwinner. The past few weeks when he was in jail have been a testing time for me and my children,” said the mother of four children, aged from eight to 13.
Counsel Ragunath Kesavan – whose defence team included G.K. Ganesan, M. Kulasegaran, S. Karthigesan, A. Sivanesan and Rajpal Singh – was grateful that the prosecution freed the five students.
“We thank the prosecution for taking into consideration that they were students,” he said.
Abdul Gani told newsmen later that the charges still stood against the 25 people because they had joined the illegal gathering and not because they were Hindraf members.
He explained that the charge of attempted murder was dropped because it was not known who threw the brick which injured policeman Dadi Abdul Rani.
“This is not a goodwill gesture. It is the fairest thing to do,” he said
