theSun | TUESDAY OCTOBER 13 2009
news without borders
Ex-guard in jail for
16 years gets retrial
PUTRAJAYA: Describing it as an
unusual case, the Court of Appeal yes-
terday ordered a fresh trial for a former
security guard who was sentenced to
life imprisonment and given six strokes
of the rotan in a firearms case in Johor
Baru 16 years ago.
The court quashed the conviction
on Abdul Rahim Itap after hearing that
there were no grounds of judgment
from the sessions court and the High
Court involved in his case, as both
judges had died.
Defence counsel K. Viknesvaran said
there was also confusion over which
section in the Firearms (Increased Pen-
alties) Act Abdul Rahim was charged
under, as the charge sheet was not in
the appeal’s record.
The three-man bench of Justices
Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar, Datuk K.
N. Segara and Datuk Ahmad Ma’arop
ordered Abdul Rahim, 41, to be brought
before a Johor Baru sessions court on
Oct 26 for mention of his case.
Abdul Rahim, who has been behind
bars for the past 16 years, appealed
after the High Court upheld a sessions
court decision to convict and sentence
him on May 30, 2006.
New models of national cars
earn good marks
by Meena L. Ramadas
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian consumers
have been increasingly satisfied with pur-
chases of new models of national cars.
According to a study conducted by
J.D Power Asia Pacific, Malaysian national
brands Inokom, Naza, Perodua and Proton
improved by an average of six points from
last year.
Some international brands included in
the study dropped by an average of seven
points.
The study, released recently, indi-
cated the Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI)
and measured new-vehicle owner
satisfaction with the sales and delivery
experience.
The seven factors examined were de-
livery process, delivery timing, paperwork,
dealer facility, salesperson, deal, and sales
initiation.
Although national brands lag behind
international brands by 16 index points,
this is considerably less than the differ-
ence of 29 points observed last year .
Overall, consumers are contented this
year with improvement in delivery timing,
sales initiation and delivery process of
national brands.
“Shortened delivery times are largely
attributable to the economic downturn
and reduced demand at dealerships,” said
J.D. Power Asia Pacific Malaysia general
Two bank robbers killed in shootouts
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Two men wanted in connec-
tion with at least three bank robberies in recent
months were gunned down in separate locations
by federal and Kuala Lumpur police in a joint
operation yesterday.
A Bukit Aman team tried to intercept a car
driven by one of the robbers but the man opened
fire at them on Jalan Putra Permai in Seri Kemban-
gan at about 2.30pm.
When the robber ignored the police order to
surrender and continued firing, the police team
returned fire, killing him on the spot.
7
In yesterday’s proceedings, Viknes-
varan, who was the assigned counsel
for Abdul Rahim, said there were no
grounds of judgment from sessions
court judge Abdul Kahar Kamar and
Judicial Commissioner K.P. Gengadha-
ran Nair, who were now deceased.
On the confusion of the charge, he
said the sessions court judge, in com-
ing to his decision, had made reference
that Abdul Rahim was charged under
Section 5 of that Act, contradicting the
submission forwarded by both Abdul
Rahim’s counsel and the deputy public
prosecutor, who made reference to Sec-
tion 4 of the Act.
Section 4 is an offence involving the
exhibition of firearm while Section 5 is
for possession of firearm.
Viknesvaran said there was also
confusion on the sentence meted by the
sessions court, which had pronounced
life imprisonment, but the sentences
provided under Section 4 and Section
5 were natural life and whipping of not
less than six strokes.
Outside the court, he said he would be
making a representation to the prosecu-
tion unit in Johor Baru to withdraw the
charge against Abdul Rahim. – Bernama
Gay
activists
manager Taku Kimoto. march
He said consumers have changed ex- for civil
pectations accordingly and “dealers and
manufacturers will need to continuously rights
improve in this area to keep pace with pg 11
these expectations”.
However, the four other SSI factors
– paperwork, dealer facility, deal initiation,
and sales initiation – decreased, with the
dealer facility factor recording the greatest
drop.
Among the nine brands ranked in the
study, Isuzu was ranked highest in the
overall new-vehicle sales satisfaction with
a score of 805 and recorded commend-
able results in six of seven factors, except
for delivery timing.
Toyota and Suzuki trailed behind with
indices of 798 and 793, respectively.
Also ranking above the industry aver-
age are Honda, Mitsubishi and Nissan, tied
at 783 each.
The study indicated that the percent-
age of customers who negotiate the price
of their vehicle increased by 7% from last
year to 72% in 2009.
The index score was based on a
1,000-point scale where a higher overall
SSI score indicates greater satisfaction
with the new-vehicle sales and delivery
process.
The study was based on the responses
of more than 2,400 new-vehicle owners
who bought their vehicles between Sep-
tember last year and April this year.
Selangor CID chief SAC II Datuk Hasnan Has-
san, who was at the scene, said the man was
believed to be the mastermind behind the robber-
ies at three Hong Leong Bank branches in Cheras,
Serdang and Puchong.
Police recovered a .38 revolver from the man,
in his 30s.
At about the same time, a police team from
the Kuala Lumpur serious crimes division trailed
another car driven by the other robber from
Subang Jaya to Taman Gohtong Jaya, Genting
Highlands.
The 41-year-old robber was killed in an
exchange of gunfire. Police recovered a loaded
pistol from him.