A Bangladeshi witness in the "false news" trial of Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez today told the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court that he developed an itchy rash on his body soon after being detained in an illegal immigrants camp.

Cross-examined by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Rahman Redza, defence witness Zakir Hussin said the rash lasted throughout his eight-month detention in the Semenyih illegal immigrants camp, near Kajang.

"It began with itchy spots and then turned into watery pimples. It gradually became worse and there was blood and pus oozing out," Zakir said, speaking through an interpreter.

He added that his fingers and genital areas were the worst affected.

"I had to wear a sarong instead of an underwear because the pain was unbearable when my genitals came into contact with my underwear.

"I washed the sarong once in two or three weeks. I would cover my genitals with a shirt when the sarong was wet," Zakir said, adding that the rash only healed after he returned to Bangladesh in July 1995.

He also told the court that he was forced to strip naked upon his arrival in the camp.

"The camp officers asked me for money but I had none. Then I was asked to remove my clothes and underwear.

Slap in the face

"At first I refused. I told them I was a Muslim and Islam does not allow one to be naked. But then I had no choice. They hit my shoulder and slapped my face," he recalled.

Zakir is the third former detainee to testify in the trial. Abdul Rahman completed cross-examination of the witness today and there was no re-examination by defence counsel M Puravalen.

Magistrate Juliana Mohamed adjourned the hearing to next Monday when a new defence witness is scheduled to testify.

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.

It has been postponed more than 50 times due to a lack of Bangladeshi court interpreter.