Online gambling: Jan 22 decision on release bid by Chinese nationals
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur will decide on Jan 22 on an application for immediate release by six Chinese nationals who have been detained under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) 1959.
The six Chinese nationals, who are all men by the name of Jiang Xiang, Wang Jun Cheng, Li Jiang, Luo Hong Bin, Lei Meng and Yu Xiang Yu, were detained in a special operation by the police in an action on online gambling syndicates...
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur will decide on Jan 22 on an application for immediate release by six Chinese nationals who have been detained under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) 1959.
The six Chinese nationals, who are all men by the name of Jiang Xiang, Wang Jun Cheng, Li Jiang, Luo Hong Bin, Lei Meng and Yu Xiang Yu, were detained in a special operation by the police in an action on online gambling syndicates.
Judicial Commissioner Azhar Abdul Hamid fixed the date after hearing submissions by both parties on the habeas corpus application filed by the six detainees.
They were arrested by the police in October and were remanded for 59 days from Nov 3.
“I think both parties have interesting points that have not been raised before the court. We will fix another date for the decision,” Azhar said.
Earlier, lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, representing the six applicants, submitted that the use of Poca against his clients did not apply to foreigners, but was limited to only Malaysians.
“If we look at the (Poca) Act, there is no dispute that it was enacted pursuant to Article 149 of the Federal Constitution and need to comply with Article 151 under the Constitution.
“Referring to the Article 151(1)(b), we would like to point out that the law is clearly limited to Malaysian citizens,” Gobind said adding that the Poca law could not be applied to the six as they did not possess Malaysian identity cards.
In response to this, senior federal counsel Zulkifli Abdullah, who appeared for the respondents, namely Inspector Wayandiana Abdullah, the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court, the inspector-general of police and the government, said Article 151(1)(b) should not be read in isolation and must be read with other provisions.
“The Poca could also be applied to non-Malaysians as there is nothing in the preamble of the Act saying that the law cannot be used against non-citizens,” Zulkifli said.
In the application, which was filed separately, the six are seeking for an order that their arrests and detention under Poca had no basis, was not compliance with the procedure and mala fide.
They are also seeking an order that their detention does not fall under the scope of Poca and that the Act is not applicable to them.
- Bernama
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