Time is the essence First, read the following piece of news from yesterday�s Straits Times. Court wants specific dates in rape cases PUTRAJAYA -
Bad news for rape victims in Malaysia who cannot remember exactly when they were
sexually violated. The Court of
Appeal wants the specific dates to be stated in the charges against alleged
rapists. Monday's
ruling forces Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani to withdraw many cases with
vague dates of the rapes committed. �That is bad
news for rape victims,� he said on Tuesday, adding that he must follow the
judgment. �We have no
choice,� said the man who is known for his empathy for victims of sexual
violence. �Most of them
are traumatised and scared. If possible, they want to forget the whole episode,�
he said. �For cases
involving rape by a member of the victim's family or a close acquaintance, it is
even more difficult to get the exact time or date because the crime is normally
discovered long after it is over. The situation is worse when young victims are
involved.� On Monday, a
janitor walked out of the court a free man after serving seven years in jail for
four charges of raping his daughter. �There were
four charges, with one stating that the offence was committed on one Sunday in
1994 and another stated one Friday in 1996,� said Justice Sri Ram.
�There are 52
Sundays and Fridays in a year. Which one?� Okay, now that you have read it, let us see what the same Attorney-General had to say about the same matter in the Anwar Ibrahim trial. Time may be the essence, but it is not
important
On 29 September 1998, Anwar Ibrahim and his adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja, were charged for sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar �one night in the month of May 1994�. Soon after, their trial started, and the �victim�, who is also the Prosecution�s star witness, testified that he was never sodomised after May 1992. On 27 April 1999, the charges were amended to �one night in the month of May 1992�. The Defence claims that this amendment was to match Azizan�s testimony. The Prosecution, however, says that the �1994� date was a typographical error and that the real date should have actually been �1992� - therefore the need for the amendment. On 27 May 1999, the Defence filed a Notice of Alibi proving that the alleged scene of the crime, Tivoli Villa, had not been completed yet, so it would have been impossible to sodomise Azizan in that place in May 1992. And Azizan had testified he would never forget, as long as he lives, that it had occurred in the Tivoli Villa. So, on 7 June 1999, the charges were amended, yet again, to read �one night between the months of January to March 1993, at or about 7.45pm�. In the meantime, Azizan changed his testimony to say that the sodomy did in fact occur way past May 1992, and not as he had earlier testified. To justify this very vague date on the charge that the crime was alleged to have been committed, the Attorney-General said that dates are important only in specific cases. In the case of Anwar�s and Sukma�s sodomy trial, dates are not that crucial. �From time immemorial, dates have never been important in an indictment,� said the Attorney-General. So, which is it? Are dates important in sexual-related cases or not? In the case of a janitor raping his own daughter, yes. In the case of Anwar and his adopted brother, Sukma, no! In the case of the janitor raping his own daughter, the judge said, �There are 52 Sundays and Fridays in a year. Which one?� In the case of Anwar Ibrahim, there are 90 days from 1 January to 31 March 1993. Which one? ------------------------------------------------ ADIL-Net will remain a Free Forum until further notice. Disclaimer: The opinions and views posted are not necessarily that of the list owner's or ADIL's -------------------------------------------------- Send a blank e-mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - to subscribe to the list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - to unsubscribe from the list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - to switch your subscription to normal [EMAIL PROTECTED] - to switch your subscription to digest ADIL Homepage: http://members.easyspace.com/reformasi/
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