Two former opposition parliamentarians were charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today with making false travel and accommodation claims during their term as members of Parliament.

The two - former PAS Jeli MP Mohd Apandi Mohamad and ex-Keadilan Kota Bharu MP Ramli Ibrahim - were both charged under section 11C of the Anti-Corruption Act in different rooms of the sessions court.

A total of 13 charges were brought against Mohd Apandi, 43, before judge Akhtar Tahir. He pleaded not guilty.

All the charges were for alleged false hotel claims - said to be from the Perdana Resort in Kota Bharu - made to the Parliament's finance department amounting to RM31,050 between Feb 11, 2002 to July 23, 2003.

The charges accused the former MP of "intending to mislead" the department by producing false claim documents when he had not made any payment to the resort.

The judge then fixed bail at RM10,000. The accused was also told to surrender his travel documents.

However, Mohd Apandi's counsel told the court that his client had misplaced his passport and would surrender it in the event it was found.

The judge fixed hearing for Sept 9.

Mohd Apandi failed to retain the Jeli parliamentary seat in last month's election. He lost to Kelantan Umno state liaison chief Mustapa Mohamed.

20 years imprisonment

In another courtroom before judge Rosenani Abd Rahman, Keadilan's Ramli was charged for making false mileage claims of RM792 on Nov 7, 2002 from the Parliament's finance department.

He also pleaded not guilty to the charge. He is currently out on bail of RM10,000 and surrendered his travel documents.

The judge fixed Sept 28 for hearing. Ramli, 60, did not contest in the last general election.

If found guilty, the two former MPs will face a maximum punishment of 20 years jail and a fine.

Both are represented by lead counsel Christopher Fernando and co-counsel Zulkifli Nordin while the deputy public prosecutors are Stanley Augustin and Nik Suhaimi Nik Sulaiman.

The issue came to the fore when these two were named in a parliamentary reply by the Prime Minister's Department last September as being among the 'biggest spenders' in Parliament by regularly making claims exceeding RM10,000 a month.

The revelation came under heavy criticisms by both ruling and opposition parliamentarians, saying it was questioning their rights.

In all, 14 MPs ( see chart below ) were said to have filed claims exceeding RM10,000 a month between the year 2002 and June 2003. Seven were from Barisan Nasional, four from PAS, two from Keadilan and one from DAP.

Topping

the list was Mohd Apandi whose total claims exceeded RM200,000.

Following this, the Anti-Corruption Agency moved in to probe the claims.

PAS asks for details

Several PAS leaders were also present in court today to lend support to Mohd Apandi and Ramli. Among them were Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaafar, Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub, Kijang state assemblyperson Husam Musa and the party's central committee member Dr Siti Mariah Mahmood.

When met later, Kamaruddin demanded the ACA and the Attorney-General's Chambers to reveal the status of the remaining 12 parliamentarians who were also questioned over their 'excessive' claims.

"We want to know whether they have been cleared of any wrongdoings," he said.

Kamaruddin also wanted the government to release the names involved in the18 high-profile corruption cases as claimed by former de facto law minister Dr Rais Yatim.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin described the charges against the duo today as "selective prosecution" and "contempt of Parliament".

He argued that the matter should have been brought before Parliament first since Parliament - the legislature - has the right to view the alleged offences committed in Parliament under the separation of powers system and that this avenue should be exhausted first.

Under the parliamentary's standing order, a special select committee could be formed to look into and decide on the matter.

Commenting on the charges against the two former MPs, counsel Fernando said the case involved many technicalities.

"Definitely we will prove they are innocent, there was no dishonesty involved," he told malaysiakini .

However, he opined that the question of contempt of Parliament does not arise since the charges are being treated as criminal offences.

"It has not breached any parliamentary procedures but we reserve the right (to put forward this argument) until the submissions," he said.

ACA director-general Zulkipli Mat Nor could not be reached for comment.