theSun | WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28 2009 7

news without borders

National astronaut fails

to get suit quashed
KUALA LUMPUR: National astro-
naut Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar
Shukor Al-Masrie yesterday failed
in his bid to quash a suit filed by a
businesswoman against him when
a sessions court here dismissed with
costs, his application.
Judge Madihah Harullah, in a
decision made in chambers, ruled
that the suit filed by Norlina Nordin
had merit for trial.
She fixed Nov 25 for mention and
case management.
Counsel Dzaki Ezhar Bahar, who
represented Sheikh Muszaphar, said
later that he would appeal against
the decision in the High Court.
Sheikh Muszaphar and Norlina
were not in court.
Norlina filed the suit on July 25
last year claiming that Sheikh Mus-
zaphar had breached the contract
of her appointment as a personal
assistant and demanded damages of
more than RM90,000.
In her statement of claim, she
stated that Sheikh Muszaphar had
not paid her wages as agreed in a
letter appointing her as his personal Govt mulls
assistant on April 2 last year. special
She claimed that on May 28 last
year, she received a letter of dis- unit to
missal from Sheikh Muszaphar after address
she had secured various contracts. maid
She is seeking RM45,000 in wages,
RM47,751 in damages, general dam- abuse
ages and other costs deemed fit by pg 8
the court.
Sheikh Muszaphar, in his state-
ment of defence, denied having ap-
pointed Norlina as his representative
in any of his business dealings.
He also filed a counter claim
against Norlina for her to pay him
RM25,000 which she had taken from
the Negeri Sembilan Action Council,
for which payment was supposed to
be made to him. – Bernama

Teoh’s family applies to exhume

remains for second post mortem
by Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SHAH ALAM: The family of
Teoh Beng Hock yesterday
filed an application with the
coroner’s court here to ex-
hume his remains for a second
post-mortem to be conducted
by veteran Thai pathologist
Pornthip Rojanasunand.
Pornthip, who was invited
by the Selangor government,
testified last Wednesday in the
inquest into Teoh’s death that
there was an 80% possibility
Teoh was murdered based on
her examination of photographs
of his body taken by hospital
authorities.
Pornthip has performed
about 10,000 autopsies and is
the director-general of the Thai
Ministry of Justice’s Central
Institute of Forensic Science.
“I have filed a certificate of
urgency under obvious grounds
as the doctor has said that
the longer we delay, there’s a
greater chance of decomposi-
tion,” said Teoh’s family lawyer
Gobind Singh Deo.
Gobind spoke to reporters
after accompanying Teoh’s
family members to file the ap-
plication in the court here.
“We are saying that after
Teoh died, a post mortem was
carried out by two government
forensic doctors who went into
detail into the injuries on the
body. Photographs were also
produced indicating the nature
of the injuries, but none of them
spoke about injuries to the
neck consistent with manual
strangulation or about the anal
injuries,” said Gobind.
“After Dr Pornthip gave
evidence, the family got very
concerned as she has used the
photographs by the government
pathologists which they relied
on to give evidence in court,”
he said, adding that the limited
scope of her examination had
been raised by government
counsel Tan Hock Chuan and
the MACC.
“Dr Pornthip has given her
opinion based on these photos,
but based on the questions
by Tan and also the MACC, it
would appear that they are
taking issue with the fact that
she did not personally view the
body, and therefore her opinion
is considerably weakened. We
do not want that to become an
issue,” said Gobind.
“This is an application by
the family to have her confirm
her opinion and come up with
a final opinion as to whether
Teoh could have been strangled
manually and whether there
were pre-fall injuries at his anal
region,” he said.

cation to transfer his sedition trial from a

briefs
Malaysian trekker
found dead in India
NEW DELHI: A Malaysian on a spiritual visit
who went missing in the northern Indian moun-
tains more than a month ago was found dead
by an Indian rescue team on Saturday night.
Vicknesvaren Murugesu’s body was found
in the hilly Topavan area, about 25km from his
resthouse in Gangotri, a popular spiritual site in
Uttarkashi, in the northern state of Uttranchal.
The 33-year-old Vicknesvaren, an engineer
by profession, arrived in Gangotri on Sept 18
and trekked to Topavan with a local porter.
He was scheduled to have returned to his
resthouse about two weeks later but failed to
show up.
He is believed to have died of severe head
injuries. – Bernama
Uthayakumar’s bid to move
sedition trial dismissed
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday
dismissed lawyer P.Uthayakumar’s appli-
sessions court to the High Court.
Justice Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd
Diah said Uthayakumar’s main argument
that the case involved complicated issues
in law held no merit.
He said sessions court judges had all the
qualifications and experience to handle the
case.
“Furthermore, the applicant can appeal
to or file for revision at the High Court on the
lower court’s decision later,” he added.
Mohamad Zabidin said the court also
disagreed with Uthayakumar’s counsel
N.Surendran that words like “ethnic cleans-
ing” and “genocide” in the charge itself
should be interpreted as issues involving
complicated matters.
Uthayakumar, 48, had claimed trial in a
sessions court to posting on a website a let-
ter with seditious tendency, dated Nov 15,
2007, which was addressed to British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown at No 10, Downing
Street, London.
He is charged under Section 4(1)(c) of
the Sedition Act which carries a maximum
RM5,000 fine or three years jail, or both, on
conviction.
The sedition trial before sessions judge
Sabariah Othman is set for Nov 4. – Ber-
nama