The Irene Fernandez 'false news' hearing was yesterday adjourned after the trial witness - a former inmate at a detention camp - was overcome by his emotions while relating his experiences eight years ago.
Bangladesh national Mohd Shahabuddin was testifying to the court the physical and mental abuses that he allegedly suffered while detained at the Tanah Merah detention centre in Kelantan in 1995.
According to the witness, a "hot-tempered" police officer named Azmir had hit him so "forcefully" on two occasions with a "wooden rod" that his fingers were broken.
"Azmir called me out of the room. He asked me to hold out my hands. He hit my palm from the side.
"(It was) very painful. My finger bones were broken," said the witness during examination by defence counsel M Puravalen.
Shahabuddin, 37, was testifying at the trial of labour activist Irene Fernandez when the hearing resumed last Tuesday after a 20-month hiatus.