1. Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Church arson trial: Contradictory testimony, 6 July 2010
by Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
The trial of a trio charged with torching the Metro Tabernacle Church in January kicked off today at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, with two eyewitnesses providing contradictory testimony.
Mohd Tarmizi Yaakob, 21, a security guard at the National Film Development Corporation store located 100m from the church, told the court that he saw six persons on three Honda EX5 motorcycles on the night of Jan 7.
He said they rode around the area before stopping in front of the church about 11.45pm.
"They went round the church two or three times, making a few stops in front of it. They looked like Malays, aged around 25," he said.
He heard them breaking the glass on the front door of the church, and then saw a fire on the premises.
However, electrician Yong Choy Yee, 34, disputed this version of events. He said he was in his girlfriend's car, parked 20-30m from the church at the time.
He testified that he saw seven to eight people approaching the church on foot around midnight.
“I did not see any motorbikes in front of the church. They were walking,” he said, noting that they looked like “Malays or Indonesians” although he could not see their faces.
Two or three of them carried wooden sticks slightly longer than a baseball bat, and used these to break the glass on the front door, Yong told the court.
Others carried "something like petrol in a pail" and threw it inside the church, causing the fire.
Yong also said the T-shirt and hair of one of the men caught fire, causing him to take off his shirt and throw it on the street.
Tarmizi had earlier claimed that the individuals were not holding anything, and that no one was burnt in the incident.
Yong said the group left the place on foot, while Tarmizi said two of them rode away on a motorcycle.
Both prosecution witnesses could not recognise the three accused when asked to identify them in court.
25 witnesses lined up
The trial, which is presided over by judge SM Komathy Suppiah, saw five other witnesses on the stand today.
Security guard at the church V Mariappan, 69, testified that he missed the crucial moment of the incident, as he was in the toilet of a canteen located beside the church.
He heard a loud explosion after he came out of the toilet. By the time he rushed to the front of the church, it had caught fire and the perpetrators had fled.
Chua Chun Kee, an investigator and chemist from the fire and rescue services department, confirmed that traces of petrol were found from samples taken at the scene of the incident.
He said the police gave him three samples, of which two were found to be petrol positive when he analysed them.
Two more eyewitnesses will testify when the hearing resumes tomorrow, along with a doctor who examined one of the accused.
In all, the prosecution led by DPP Azlina Rasdi, has lined up 25 witnesses.
Brothers Raja Mohamad Faizal Raja Ibrahim (left), 24, and Raja Mohamad Idzham, 22, and their friend, Azuwan Shah Ahmad, 23, are charged with several others still at large with committing mischief by torching the church at No 28, Jalan 4/4C, Desa Melawati, at 11.50pm on Jan 7, 2010.
They are charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code which is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in jail and a fine on conviction.
The trio were hospitalised for severe burns believed to be sustained when the crime was committed, leading to their subsequent arrest on Jan 20.
The church was the first of a series of places of worship targeted for retaliation, following a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision that the use of 'Allah' is not prohibited to non-Muslims. The ruling was on an application filed by Catholic weekly Herald.
2. The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
Church arson case: Witnesses unable to identify suspects, 6 July 2010
by NURBAITI HAMDAN
KUALA LUMPUR: Three witnesses in the Metro Tabernacle arson case told the Sessions Court here Tuesday that they could not identify all the men who were at the scene because the place was dark.
Electrician Yong Choy Yee, 34, and security guard Muhammad Tarmizi Yaakob, 31, could only say that the men they saw were in their 20s to 30s, and were thin and tall.
Yong said he saw a group of men breaking and entering the church and lighting it on fire in the middle of the night.
He said he was returning from supper with his friend around midnight, and was in a car about 30m away from the church when the incident happened right before his eyes.
"About seven or eight men, in their 20s and 30s, appeared from nearby bushes and walked towards the church with pieces of wood, like baseball bats.
"Two or three of them broke the glass wall while another two or three stormed inside and burned down the church," he told the court.
He said the men carried what looked like a "container".
Yong added that another man on a motorcycle, decked in jacket and helmet, circled the place a few times and parked behind his car before the incident.
"I did not dare to make any distress phone calls (when I saw what was happening). What if the man behind me had a gun?" Yong said, adding that men looked like Malay or Indonesian.
He said a man then ran out of the building, his shirt and hair on fire.
"The man took off his burning shirt and threw it by the roadside. No one helped him," Yong said.
He said he could not tell whether the men left on motorcycles or on foot.
To a question by defence counsel Datuk Hanif Hashim, Yong said he could not recognise the men. Mohammad Tarmizi, who testified earlier, said he saw a group of six men on three motorcycles circling the area.
"They were not holding anything. They look like our people, Malays," he said.
However, Mohammad Tarmizi could not identify the three accused when asked by the defence counsel.
Another eyewitness, V. Mariappan, 69, said he heard a loud explosion when he was coming out of a toilet located nearby the church.
"It sounded like boom!" said Mariappan, who works at the church.
On Jan 29, siblings Raja Muhammad Faizal Raja Ibrahim, 24, and Raja Muhammad Idzham Raja Ibrahim, 22, as well as their 23-year-old friend Azuwan Shah Ahmad, all despatch riders, claimed trial to setting fire to the church in Desa Melawati, Wangsa Maju, here.
They were charged with committing mischief with fire, with the intention of destroying the church, at 11.50pm on Jan 7.
Raja Muhammad Faizal and Raja Muhammad Idzham were represented by Hanif while Azuwan was represented by lawyer Dzaki Ezhar Bahar.
Azlina Rasdi appeared for the prosecution.
The hearing continues Wednesday before Sessions Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah.
(End)
