ICU ward turned court

QUOTE OF THE DAY :

 

A thief is more moral than a congressman politician;

 

when a thief steals your money,
he doesn’t demand you thank him. ~ Walter Williams

I am trying to make sense of this piece of news found on Malaysiakini BM version :

Wad ICU bertukar mahkamah
Apr 15, 09 10:36am
Seorang pekerja kontrak – yang terlantar di unit rawatan rapi (ICU) kerana meminum cecair pelarut semasa dalam tahanan polis – dihadapkan dengan pertuduhan memiliki dadah.

Adi Anwar Mansor, 23, yang terbaring lemah memakai topeng oksigen dengan tangan kanan bergari di kepala katil mendengar dakwaan terhadapnya yang dibacakan di depan majistret Liew Horng Bin di Bilik Infeksi, Wad 8B, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah kira-kira pukul
3.50 petang.

Selepas tiba, hakim duduk di sebelah katil tertuduh dan mengumumkan bilik tersebut sebagai mahkamah terbuka serta mengarahkan jurubahasa mahkamah membacakan pertuduhan.

Adi didakwa memiliki dua bungkusan ganja seberat kira-kira 44.55 gram di Perhentian Bas di tepi Jalan Kebun, Kelang kira-kira 11.30 malam pada 7 April lepas.

Pemuda itu didakwa mengikut Seksyen 6 Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 dan boleh dihukum penjara sehingga lima tahun atau denda maksimum RM20,000, jika sabit kesalahan.

Sejurus pertuduhan dibacakan, Adi dengan lemah mengangguk faham dan minta dibicarakan.

I am not saying that just because the person is in ICU, he is not guilty and shouldn’t be charged. But what I find revolting is how a man in his condition, on life support needs to be handcuffed to the bed. Is this the normal treatment for criminals? Next, I find it amusing that the judge has the time to travel to the hospital ICU, get himself/herself disinfected (which by law should be done) and charge him. Do they do this for all the drug lords too? We have McD delivery, Pizza Hut delivery and now, we have judge delivery too?

I don’t know about others but I still think that a person is still a person, no matter what. The person still deserves at least an ounce of dignity. To those who didn’t follow the case, this young man is charged with possession of drugs. He drank paint thinner during detention and the mother made a police report that her son was driven to the point of suicide due to beatings. Or something like that lah…Is he another Kugan’s case? And whatever happened to the few police officers who were suspects?

Haih….I don’t want to meddle with issues like these but sometimes, the human heart tugs. The mind asks why. The heart asks why not? Darn mind blogging, our police and legal system, no?

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8 thoughts on “ICU ward turned court”

  1. Lilian, that is so true. I think it is only happened in Malaysia. I read a news the other day in The Star about a single mother who robbed for RM 220 just to feed her children and she is sentenced to 48 months. It is grossly excessive la. 4 years gosh!And the Ex-politician who threatened other by a gun was also sentenced to 6 months jail. How unfair. Somemore the single mother was unrepresented in the court and this has deprived her chance for a fair trial and advocacy already. Imprisonment should be the last resort in this single mother’s case. I have sent a message to a legal aid committee regarding this matter hopefully the single mother can have a chance to appeal her sentencing.

    The news is as follows:
    Published: Tuesday April 14, 2009 MYT 3:02:00 PM
    Single mom gets 4yrs for robbing a man of RM220
    By ZALINAH NOORDIN

    KUALA LUMPUR: A 45 year-old single mother was sentenced to 48 months in jail for robbing a man of RM220 in cash.

    She pleaded guilty, saying she resorted to robbery as she had no other means to fend for her three school-going children.

    A. Parameswary told Sessions Court Judge Zainal Abidin Kamaruddin on Tuesday that her monthly salary of RM350 as a shop assistant was insufficient for her to make ends meet.

    She said she could not think of other ways to earn more money at the time as her eldest son needed money for school.

    Parameswary was found guilty of robbing R. Sivapathi, 50, near a row of shops at Lorong Haji Taib here.

    She had led him into a guest house where two other men were waiting. They then relieved Sivapathi of his cash before letting him go about 15mins later.

    Her two accomplices are still at large and it is learnt that police have kept the case file open.

    Parameswary, who was unrepresented, appeared calm when the sentence was read out.

    When asked by Judge Zainal Abidin what she thought her punishment should be, she sheepishly suggested, “One year’s jail?”

    The judge told her she should have thought of her children’s long-term interests and should not have acted so rashly.

    “Although you tried to make sacrifices for your kids, the way you chose to do it was not right. You should have thought of the long-term consequences of your action. Now who’s going to look after your kids?” he said.

    Parameswary told Judge Zainal Abidin that her children would be taken care of by her neighbour while she serves her jail term.

    She was sentenced under Section 395 of the Penal Code for robbery.

  2. dani – It is so frustrating to see all these injustices. It is like a trend where they catch the meekest, weakest and most defendless ones and then, jadi kambing korban to show how fair the law is and how efficient they are. Yet, those really sinister ones get away with millions and billions. That’s why I so love the quote I added in.

  3. Oh ya, anilnetto wrote a blog posts a few days ago on why crime is increasing – because of the vast differences in our income. The poor get poorer and they resorted to crimes while the filthy rich ones get away with siphoning the money.

  5. erm, that guy tried to suicide?

    well, thats how the legal system in malaysia works. only the powerless gets the larger end of the stick. its no wonder no one believes in the system anymore.

    hope najib can turn that around, else we will be stuck with this bullshit for another term.

    calvaryzone´s last blog post..Krispy Kreme Donuts – First in line?

  7. Terence, good question. And if you had followed the other case (hint, semi-value)you come to the conclusion, most of us keep paraquat in the house/condominium as well. Sometimes we mistook that for “kopi orr” like that poor girl.

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