The 'false news' trial of Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez was today postponed yet again to Feb 5 as the Bangladeshi defence witness who was scheduled to testify failed to turn up.

Magistrate Juliana Mohamed was informed that the witness, Zakir Hussein, who was formerly detained at an illegal immigrants camp, was down with diarrhoea.

The trial, last heard on Nov 7 last year, has been postponed six times due to the unavailability of a Bangladeshi interpreter. ([#1] Court told of problems involving Bangladeshi interpreters [/#], Jan 17)

However, court interpreter Manoj Kumar was present in the magistrate court this morning.

Cross-examination

Fernandez is being charged with 'maliciously publishing false news' by releasing a memorandum at a press conference in August 1995 on torture and deaths at illegal immigrant detention camps.

The women's rights activist and Keadilan supreme council member faces up to three years in prison if convicted. She is currently out on bail.

The trial which began in June 1996 is the longest ongoing criminal trial in the country's legal history.

Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Rahman Redza is scheduled to cross-examine Zakir when the trial resumes next month.