CCTV will prove early closing, says bail case lawyer

 

The lawyer for six men granted bail while awaiting trial said they had spent the long weekend in jail because court staff denied them bail.

PETALING JAYA: The lawyer for six men who spent a weekend behind bars for not posting bail has disputed a Federal Court claim that it was because their bailors had not shown up on time.

Alvin Tan urged the authorities to check security footage as proof of his claim that the counters had closed early on Thursday (the day before the extra public holiday on Friday).

He said court staff had said there was a cut-off time of 3pm and there were directions from the Kuala Lumpur court’s management to close the counter at 4pm.

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The counter had been closed even though the families of the six men had gathered sufficient bail money and rushed to the counter at around 2.40pm.

“They were informed by the court’s officers that the counter was closed already and that they will not process any bail. I tried to communicate with the officers but they insisted on not processing any bail,” he told FMT.

“I told the staff that bailors were there and the money was ready, and all that was left on the staff’s part was their documentation. They refused to proceed anyway,” Tan said.

Tan said they would make a statutory declaration in support of their claims.

Tan’s comments were in response to a statement from the chief registrar of the Federal Court earlier today, in which the court administration said the six men were denied bail because their bailors did not show up and not because of early closing.

The chief registrar’s office said the bail counter at the Kuala Lumpur courthouse had closed at 4pm, the normal time during Ramadan.

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However, Tan said he saw another person’s bail being rejected for the same reason as his clients.

He urged the registrar to check CCTV footage of the bail counters to find out when they actually shut. He also called for a check on the courthouse computers to see when the staff had logged-out, and the time of the last processed bail.

On Thursday, FMT reported the six men, who had claimed trial for criminal conspiracy with the intention to cheat, would spend the long weekend in jail, with Tan claiming the bail counter had closed earlier than usual.

He said court staff closed the registration counter at 2.53pm despite a notice apparently stating that office hours ran until 4.30pm. - FMT