Four charged over 'insulting Islam' kidnap case

VIDEO | 1.26 min
Four youths were today charged in connection with the kidnapping of Ng Mun Tatt, a 21-year-old cyber cafe employee.

The case is said to be in connection with insulting Islam and came hot on the heels of sexual bloggers Alvi
n Tan and Vivian Lee's controversial Facebook post.

The four accused are - Mohamad Asri Mohamad Jamili, 22, Mohd Mazli Sazeli, 26, Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman, 29 and Agus Hariyanto Mahmod Hosen, 27.

They were brought to the court in handcuffs at 2.20pm, where they were jointly-charged under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961 for detaining Ng at Restaurant Muneer in Section 25, Shah Alam and seeking a ransom of RM3,000 at 4.30am on July 15.

Section 3 relates to the abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement for ransom.

All face life imprisonment, with caning, or even the death penalty upon conviction.

First accused, Asri, was represented by Ridha Abdah Subri, while the others were represented by Shaharudin Ali and Mohd Lias Md Marzuki, while Siti Rohaida Che Hamid prosecuted.
Swollen right hands, lip
During the proceedings, the accused lawyers told Magistrate Nurul Shahida Zainal that their clients complained of sustaining injuries during detention.

Shaharudin told the magistrate that he was made aware that the accused were in pain by their family members, prior to his visit to Shah Alam lockup centre.

He asked the magistrate to order a medical examination for the four to determine their welfare and to allow the accused to reserve their right to lodge a police report.

Mazli complained to the magistrate that his right hand was swollen, together with Agus who also claimed his lip was swollen.

Following this, the magistrate ordered the two suspects to undergo medical examination.

She then set August 16 for mention.

As they left the court, the accused, who were in tears, chanted "Allahuakbar" together with their supporters and friends, while their family members also seen to be crying.

Ng had last week denied claims that his alleged kidnapping had any links to the case of controversial bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee (above), who were recently charged over an online posting deemed to be insulting to Muslims.