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PETALING JAYA: Lawyers are baffled by the Selayang session court’s decision to deny bail to four directors and one manager who were indicted in court on Tuesday for the contamination of Sungai Gong in Rawang.
Attorney Datuk M. Reza Hassan, who is the attorney for the four directors, all brothers, and the manager of Yip Chee Seng and Sons Sdn Bhd, told the Sun yesterday that the session court had exercised its discretion by failing to post bail, but the decision is “very unusual”.
He said the prosecution had alleged that there was a risk of tampering with the evidence in the case.
“They must provide evidence of tampering. It is quite puzzling since the bond is simply to ensure court attendance and should not be used to deny a person’s freedom while the court determines if they are guilty. “
Reza said an appeal is underway to obtain bail for the five men.
Two other attorneys shared similar views.
Lawyer Manoharan Malayalam said that the crimes are subject to bail and that the decision to deny the defendant bail is illegal.
“Why keep them locked up even before they are found guilty? The court may want this to be a deterrent to other potential offenders and the like.
“However, this is illegal and cruel. It is a violation of the fundamental rights that are enshrined in the Federal Constitution, ”she said.
“The Shah Alam High Court should step in and ask for a review. Defendants are not a flight risk due to Covid-19 travel restrictions nor can they alter evidence or witnesses.
“Although the public is the victim, the witnesses are made up of professionals who investigated the case. Also, how can they alter the evidence when the workshop premise is sealed? “
Criminal lawyer KA Ramu said that although the case is in the public interest, the defendant should be entitled to bail, as allowed by law.
“Perhaps the presiding judge saw the case as in the public interest, where millions of users were affected by a water outage. However, the prosecution must present a good reason why the defendant should not be released on bail, ”he said.
The four brothers, Yip Kok Wai, 52, Yip Kok Mun, 58, Yip Kok Kuin, 50, and Yip Kok Weng, 60, were charged jointly with their company’s manager, Ho Voon Leong, 59, of “downloading or depositing programmed wastes in the environment that leads to pollution ”under Section 25 of the Environmental Quality Act and“ damage caused by damage to irrigation works ”under Section 430 of the Penal Code.
They were ordered to be held in Bentong Prison.
The men were detained after large amounts of effluent suspected of coming from their company were found dumped in Sungai Gong.
The effluents caused contamination of the Sungai Selangor water treatment plant, leading to a major water cut in the Klang Valley that affected more than 1.2 million households.
In addition to the directors and the manager, other employees of the company were also investigated.
Read this story in our iPaper: Lawyers: Denial of Bail in Case of Puzzling Contamination
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