A witness in the rioting trial of six Keadilan leaders today was ticked off twice by the Kulim Magistrates' Court for giving hearsay evidence.

S Murugesan was testifying against Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Tian Chua, N Gobalakrishnan, Azmin Ali, Ruslan Kassim and Zamil Ibrahim, who were charged with rioting during the Lunas by-election in Kedah, in November 1999.

During cross-examination, the witness, who is an MIC member, said several times that people told him on polling day that busloads of passengers were being detained by Keadilan supporters.

Magistrate Noor Hashim Ismail* interjected twice, saying: "Don't just say what you had heard. We want to know what you had seen."

Murugesan, who was a passenger in one of the buses, told the court that he saw several Keadilan leaders boarding the bus, their supporters shouting, carrying sticks and cameras.

( *Correction : It was discovered the next day of this report that the presiding judge is Rosnani Saud. We apologise for the error.)

He then identified to the court, the Keadilan leaders on board who requested to check the identity cards of passengers.

"Even when we were brought to the (Lunas) police station, we were not allowed to go down, until we told the police that some of us wanted to go to the toilet," he said.

All accused present

Murugesan is the prosecution's sixth witness. It is learnt that another 30 witnesses will be called to testify in this case which began in April.

All accused were in court today.

Chua and Ezam arrived in a van at about 9.30am. When entering the court, they were warmly received by about 30 supporters.

Chua, who is a Keadilan vice-president, is being detained at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak, for purportedly planning to topple the government by using militant means.

Ezam, the Youth chief, had been held in Kamunting with Chua until his recent sentencing for contravening the Official Secrets Act whereupon he was sent to the Kajang prison in Selangor to undergo a two-year imprisonment.

No untoward incident

Also present in the court was Lunas state assembly representative Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Ezam's wife Bahirah Tajol Aris and their three children.

Several Federal Reserve Unit personnel stood watch outside the court but no untoward incident took place.

The six Keadilan leaders were charged with rioting when they allegedly detained several buses illegally in Lunas and escorted them to the Lunas police station, claiming the passengers were phantom voters.

The hearing continues tomorrow. DPP Hashim Hamzah is prosecuting while lawyers Cheah Kah Peng and Pravan Singh are the legal counsel for the six.