The trial against activist Lena Hendry continued today, with her lawyer positing that the compact disc (CD) seized by the authorities during a raid on the film screening two years ago is not that of the contentious film.
Lena is charged with screening a documentary on ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, without the approval of the Film Censorship Board on July 8, 2013.
The Home Ministry's Film Controls Department, Immigration Department and police personnel raided the hall during the screening, stopped the screening and seized a compact disc.
Lena’s lawyer New Sin Yew, when cross-examining prosecution witness, Home Ministry personnel Norhafizad Abu Kassim, said the CD is likely not that of the documentary because the timing does not match.
Norhafizad testified earlier that he entered the screening hall at 8pm and posed as an audience member, but left at 9.27pm.
New said the film screened is more than an hour long, but the CD seized is only 55 minutes long.
“You said the hall was dark when you left, and the video in exhibit D11 (the CD) is only 55 minutes long.
“You entered at 8pm and left after 9pm, and the film was still being creened. It does not match the length of the film,” New said.
When asked if Norhafizad believes the CD seized is not the same one used for the screening, he said he was not sure.
The film screened was the award-winning ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.'
Lena could be jailed for up to three years, if found guilty.
More than 100 artistes, journalists and lawyers, including Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo and Academy Award winner Orlando von Einsiedel, wrote to the Malaysian government to to protest Lena’s charging, -Mkini
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