Category: Agama

Amos Yee Invokes Court Process To Decide On Trial Position

After several false starts, the first day of blogger Amos Yee’s trial yesterday was adjourned for the 17-year-old to use a court process that helps accused persons consider whether to claim trial or plead guilty.

He had earlier objected to a joint hearing for the two sets of offences he has been charged with.

When he was overruled, Amos told the court he would like the prosecution’s seven witnesses to testify orally, rather than through written statements.

Then, as his hearing was about to kick off, he told a judge he was “thinking of taking a certain course of action”.

Amos, who was not represented at his hearing yesterday, asked to go for Criminal Case Resolution (CCR), a court process where an accused person may ask for an indication of his possible sentences in a closed-door meeting with prosecutors that is presided over by a senior district judge.

CCR was started in 2011 to minimise wastage of court resources. It provides a neutral platform for parties to explore the possibilities of early resolution of criminal cases, instead of waiting until a trial starts.

When District Judge Lim Tse Haw asked why he had not brought up his request during his pre-trial conference, Amos said he only learnt about CCR through “sheer luck” while he was doing research.

He was given the go-ahead to attend a CCR session this morning, following which he would decide if he would want to continue to claim trial.

Amos faces six charges of wounding the religious feelings of Muslims and Christians and two counts of flouting an order to show up at a police station for investigations. Both sets of charges relate to content he posted online between November last year and May this year.

Amos argued that the nature of the two sets of charges are different and he would not have a fair trial if they are heard together.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hon Yi countered that the alleged offences happened close together and were linked.

Amos was convicted of similar offences last year and was sentenced to four weeks’ jail. But he was released on the same day as the sentence was backdated to include his time in remand.

If convicted of deliberately wounding the religious feelings of others, Amos could be jailed up to three years and fined. For failing to turn up at the police station in spite of an order, he could be jailed up to a month and fined up to S$1,500.

Source: TODAY Online

August 18, 2016
Singapore To Assess Need To Send Forces To Frontlines To Fight IS

If Singapore faces a direct security threat, forces might be sent to the frontlines for counter-terrorism efforts, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in Parliament on Monday (Aug 15).

This comes after Member of Parliament Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC) asked Dr Ng for an update on how Singapore can directly contribute to support the multinational coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

He said that should Singapore face a direct security threat, the country would fight to make a “real difference”, and not just a “token” contribution.

Dr Ng also added that a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medical support team will be deployed to Iraq for about three months next year.

“The exact size, composition, and capabilities of the medical support team will be determined after our needs assessment and survey team assesses the situation,” he said.

He added that the medical team will take care of injured soldiers and civilians in the event of a battle against ISIS.

It was first announced in November 2014 by Dr Ng that Singapore will participate in the multinational coalition against ISIS.

In 2007, Singapore sent 492 SAF servicemen to Afghanistan during a six-year deployment to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force, which ended in 2013. It was the SAF’s longest overseas deployment, The Straits Times reported.

Source: AsiaOne

August 18, 2016
Pendakwah Britain Anjem Choudary Didapati Bersalah Sokong ISIS

Salah seorang pendakwah di Britain, yang terkenal dengan ceramah-ceramah yang menerapkan kebencian, kini berdepan dengan hukuman penjara setelah didapati bersalah menyokong ISIS.

Anjem Choudary dijatuhi hukuman di Old Bailey setelah para juri mendengar bahawa dia mengikrarkan taat setia kepada ISIS, lapor The Guardian.

Lelaki berusia 49 tahun itu, yang ada kaitan dengan salah seorang pembunuh Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolajo dan anggota militan Omar Bakri Muhammad, juga menggesa para pengikutnya supaya menyokong beberapa rancangan ISIS yang disiarkan di laman YouTube.

Anjem dan rakannya yang turut berdepan hukuman, Mohammed Rahman, 33 tahun memberitahu para penyokong mereka supaya mematuhi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, iaitu pemimpin ISIS, yang juga dikenali sebagai khalifah, serta menggesa mereka agar ke Syria untuk menyertai ISIS atau “khilafah”, mahkamah dimaklumkan.

Kedua-duanya didapati bersalah pada bulan Julai namun perincian perbicaraan termasuk keputusan mahkamah tidak boleh dilaporkan sehingga sekarang.

Anjem dan Rahman berdepan hukuman penjara selama 10 tahun kerana memberikan sokongan kepada pertubuhan yang berbahaya, menurut The Guardian.

Mereka akan dijatuhi hukuman pada 6 September di Old Bailey.

Menurut Ketua Polis Metropolitan Anti-Pengganasan, Komander Dean Haydon: “kedua-dua lelaki ini cuba mengelak pengawasan pihak berkuasa sejauh ini, namun tiada seorang pun dalam bidang anti-pengganasan yang meragui pengaruh mereka, kebencian yang mereka sebarkan dan orang-orang yang mereka galak supaya menyertai pertubuhan pengganas.”

“Berkali-kali kami menyaksikan orang-orang dibicarakan atas kesalahan paling serius, yang pernah menghadiri ceramah kedua-dua lelaki ini. Ikrar taat setia mereka kepada ISIS adalah satu titik perubahan – akhirnya kami mempunyai bukti yang menunjukkan bahawa mereka sudah melanggar undang-undang dan kami boleh buktikan bahawa mereka menyokong ISIS,” tambah beliau, menurut laporan The Guardian.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

August 18, 2016
Hukuman Penjara Abu Bakar Ba’a’syir Dikurangkan 3 Bulan Sempena Hari Kemerdekaan

Hukuman penjara bagi bekas pemimpin kumpulan pengganas Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, dikurangkan tiga bulan oleh pihak berkuasa Indonesia sempena menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan negara itu.

Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, yang pernah mendalangi insiden pengeboman di Bali pada tahun 2002, dijatuhi hukuman penjara 15 tahun pada 2011 setelah disabit kesalahan menyalurkan dana kepada sebuah kem latihan pengganas di Aceh.

Dia sedang menjalani hukuman di Penjara Gunung Sindur yang terketak di Bogor, Jawa Barat.

Pejabat Hak Kemanusiaan dan Keadilan Jawa Barat menyatakan hukuman penjara Abu Bakar Ba’asyir wajar dikurangkan kerana dia sudahpun menjalani sepertiga hukumannya.

Ini merupakan kali kedua, hukumannya dikurangkan sehingga tiga bulan.

Indonesia mempunyai tradisi mengurangkan hukuman terhadap para banduan pada hari kemerdekaan negara.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

August 18, 2016
No Non-Muslim Maids For Malaysian Muslims

PETALING JAYA: Maid agencies are stunned by a “new” directive imposed by the Immigration Department barring them from hiring non-Muslim maids.

Employers have questioned the rationale behind the policy, which department officials said was not new, as they were worried that they may not get any maids at all.

Malaysian Maid Employers Association (MAMA) president Engku Ahmad Fauzi said the policy would limit the supply of maids for Muslims.

“Religion should not be an obstacle. When you work in an office, you don’t base it on religion and likewise, this should not be the case for the maid in the home,” he said yesterday.

He called on the Immigration Department to enlighten people on the rationale of the policy.

A maid agency owner in Selangor who did not want to be named said she had applied for non-Muslim maids for Muslims who wanted them through the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System online but they were rejected.

“When I called, I was told to go to the counter to submit the application. But at the counter, the officers said that the policy was a directive from the director-general,” she said.

The officers said the policy had always existed and if she still wanted to put in the application, they would reject it, she said.

“If they did not allow Muslims to hire non-Muslims from the beginning, why did they allow it earlier?

“There was no circular to inform us about this,” she said, adding that the rejection had been ongoing for two weeks.

She said that if Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar could hire non-Muslims, why not Malaysia?

Another maid agency owner based in Kuala Lumpur said Malaysia had the policy all along, but some directors-general had allowed some flexibility depending on the situation.

“The policy narrows down the opportunity for Muslims to get maids,” she said.

Faiz Abdullah, 42, a father of three who lives in Petaling Jaya said he had heard from his maid agency about the matter.

He said that he would need to renew his maid’s permit this month and was worried that it would be rejected.

He said it was not easy to get a good and reliable maid these days and asked why it should be based on religion and race.

Business owner Zubir Rahman, 46, a father of three from Shah Alam said he was concerned about the policy because he preferred Filipino maids as they were more reliable.

He said he had three Indonesian maids before and two ran away but all four Filipino maids fulfilled their contracts.

“It would pose a problem for me because to get a good maid these days is very difficult,” said Zubir, whose current maid’s contract would expire in December.

Source: www.bharian.com.my

August 17, 2016