Ex-RMAF sergeant seeks protection order

Drama was the order of the day, as lawyers moved to apply for a protection order for former RMAF sergeant N Tharmendran.

Like a scene out of a high-stakes thriller, Tharmendran (right) identified at least two RMAF "officers" hanging about the Petaling Jaya courthouse as he and his lawyers were leaving to lodge a police report at the nearby station.

Fearful of his possible "abduction", Tharmendran's lead counsel N Surendran and Lateefa Koya confronted one of the "officers", who was in plain clothes.

"He admitted he was an officer, but denied that he is a witness or involved in the case," Surendran said.

"He said he and another officer were just accompanying another officer to the courthouse, but when we asked if the person was still around, he said they did not know."

Tharmendran and his lawyers are now filing a police report over alleged harassment by RMAF officers, who went to his parents' house in Seremban on Friday to look for him.

The report will be the basis for the application of his protection order, which will be heard in the Sessions Court this afternoon.

Tharmendran had previously told Malaysiakini that he had beentortured by military intelligence officers while under interrogation.

He had been detained under an internal probe into the theft of two jet-fighter engines, and has since been charged in connection with the alleged offence.

Tharmendran is currently out on bail.

[More to follow]