KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Lawyers acting for Rosemary Anak Ginam have rejected the police explanation for her 42-day detention, saying multiple reports for the same cheating allegation is not a justifiable reason.
“We would like to emphasise here that multiple police reports relating to the same offence do not justify extended periods of remand. The remand period remains the same.
“Imagine if there are 500 police reports? Does that mean that an accused person needs to be in police lockup for two years?” Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal said in a joint statement to Malay Mail today.
Commercial Crimes director Datuk Seri Amar Singh Ishar Singh issued a statement yesterday explaining the lengthy remand period for Rosemary since July 18 was necessary as police had to investigate the 136 cheating reports filed by victims from all over the country.
He added that Rosemary was the director of travel company Dulcet Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd and a signatory to its bank account, which is missing some RM2.3 million under dubious circumstances.
The two lawyers said Rosemary has since been released, but noted their client has yet to be charged.
They claimed this showed the police do not have sufficient evidence for prosecution and were abusing the law by using “chain remands” to detain her multiple times for the same alleged offence.
They claimed that chain remands are an infringement of human rights and are contrary to Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
The lawyers also said that they will register their concerns with the Malaysian Bar and asked magistrates and judges to practise caution when deciding remand applications by the police.
“The judiciary must reject all chain remand applications which are clearly infringements upon an accused's fundamental human rights,” they added.
