Bernama - Court Refuses Bail For 31 Hindraf Supporters

SHAH ALAM, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- Thirty-one people, believed to be supporters of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), have been denied bail.

Twenty-six of them were charged on Tuesday and the other five, yesterday with several offences including attempted murder on a police officer during an illegal assembly organised by the group in front of the Sri Subramaniar Temple in Batu Caves on Nov 25.

Sessions Court Judge Azimah Omar, who took about 20 minutes to read out her decision today, said the court had taken into account the fact that public interest precedes the interests of all the accused.

In this case, she said, the prosecution did not offer bail because all of them were facing a charge under Section 307 of the Penal Code, namely attempted murder, which is non-bailable except at the court's discretion.

She said that in considering the issue of bail, the court had to consider several matters including whether there was a reasonable belief that the accused had committed the offence, the risks and concerns that the accused would commit a similar offence or other offences and the possibility of the accused tempering with the witnesses.

"Nevertheless, according to the law, the list is not exhaustive because other factors also have to be considered like the accused's health and public interest," she said.

Azimah said the defence had failed to furnish clear evidence with regard to the three accused who were said to be suffering health problems. One of the accused was said to have a kidney problem and required haemodialysis but the dialysis card submitted was not clear, while no medical records had been given to the court in respect of another accused who was said to be suffering from heart disease, she said.

She said the 18 pictures in the form of computer images that were submitted to the court yesterday as a ground for bail were not authenticated even though the defence claimed that they were taken by a man.

"This case is not an ordinary case but involves the accused who are alleged to have participated in an illegal gathering and a gathering does not involve only the accused but also the general public.

"The gathering also involves national security and does not involve racial and religious issues and on these grounds, the court is not allowing bail for all the accused," she said firmly.