KUCHING, Oct 31 — Eleven landowners, who had pleaded not guilty to a joint charge of wrongfully restraining a quarry personnel at a blockade site, saw their bail reduced from RM4,000 to RM500 each by the Sibu High Court today.

Their counsel Simon Siah said Judge Lim Hock Leng reduced the amount after hearing the application for review of the bail imposed by the Mukah Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

He said Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Zulfadli Mohd Nawawi did not object to the application.

"The judge agreed that the bail imposed by the magistrate on the accused was excessive and defeated the purpose of the bail,” Siah told Malay Mail.

He said the judge noted that the maximum punishment for wrongful restraint under Section 341 of the Penal Code is only RM1,000 or one month’s imprisonment.

The 11 are Donald Heagen anak Jimmy, Edwin Lian anak Baong, Tan anak Kayong, Tangai anak Jinang, Liew Joon Chen, James anak Rundi, Mancha anak Abok, Lawrence anak Ngadi, Andin Aanak Ah Kow, Darren anak Hilary and Lulong anak Bujah.

The magistrate had ordered them to post bail of RM4,000 each with two sureties whose monthly income must be RM1,500 each after they pleaded not guilty to the joint charge of wrongfully restraining Stephen Wong Yaw Teck at about 9.40am on October 8.

They were arrested on October 25 and charged in the Mukah Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Siah wrote a letter to the Registrar of the Sibu High Court yesterday requesting a review of the RM4,000 bail, saying that the accused were merely general workers and farmers with little to no income.

He added that it would also be difficult for the landowners to get sureties earning RM1,500 a month each.

Siah also said the villagers of several longhouses had erected the blockade in an attempt to engage the quarry company in a dialogue over the destruction of their land and rivers.