KUALA LUMPUR: The attorney-general’s chambers (AGC) has applied to strike out an originating summons filed by a North Korean businessman against the governments of Malaysia and the US as well as three others on an order to extradite him to the US.
Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly said AGC filed the application on April 7 on the ground that the originating summons submitted by Mun Choi-myong, 55, as the plaintiff has become academic after he was extradited to US on March 17.
“Apart from that, the matters raised by the plaintiff are precluded by res judicata as they were raised during the habeas corpus proceedings in the High Court here on Dec 12 2019.
“The court also set June 24 to hear the cancellation of the suit and the issue on submitting the original summons to the US government,” he told reporters after case management before High Court Judge Noorin Badaruddin today which was also attended by counsel Nicholas Kow and Emile Ezra Hussain, representing Mun.
On March 8, Mun filed an originating summons by naming the public prosecutor, home minister and the ministry, and the Malaysia and US governments respectively as the first to the fifth defendant.
Mun applied for a declaration that Section 4 and Section 20 of the Extradition Act 1992 were unconstitutional, void and invalid.
He also sought an injunction to restrain the US government from taking action through the home minister of Malaysia, the ministry and the government of Malaysia through an extradition agreement between the two countries signed on Aug 3, 1995.
Apart from that, he also sought a declaration that the home minister’s order to the magistrate on July 8, 2019 at the material time against the the plaintiff was declared null and void, which resulted in the cancellation of the extradition order of the sessions court on Dec 13, 2019.
In the application, the plaintiff alleged all defendants had wrongly used Section 4 and Section 20 of the Extradition Act 1992 which is unconstitutional to restrict the power conferred on the sessions court by not allowing evidence to be presented and this has discriminated against the plaintiff as well as caused him to be detained pending extradition.
On May 13, 2019, the prosecution applied to the magistrates’ court for a warrant of temporary arrest on Mun which was allowed on the same day.
On June 10, the US submitted an official application through diplomatic channels to the Malaysian government for Mun to be extradited.
In the extradition application, it was stated that Mun was a fugitive criminal who was required to attend trial in the US as an arrest warrant had been issued against him on charges of money laundering conspiracy.
The sessions court on Dec 13, 2019, issued an order for Mun to be sent to Sungai Buloh Prison pending a handover order from the home minister to the US authorities.
Mun then filed a writ of habeas corpus in the High Court here on Dec 12, 2019 to apply for release from detention. It was rejected by the court on Oct 8 last year.
Mun filed an appeal against the habeas corpus decision in the Federal Court but his appeal was rejected on March 9. - FMT
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