Enforcement officers seize 'Viagra coffee'

KUALA LUMPUR: A direct-selling company marketed a coffee mixture with a secret ingredient which guaranteed to "perk up" drinkers.

The secret ingredient was sildenafil, more popularly known as Viagra.

Enforcement officers from the Health Ministry recently raided the direct-selling company in Gombak.

A medical examination is required, along with a doctor's recommendation, before men who are suffering from erectile dysfunction are allowed to purchase sildenafil or Viagra.

A ministry spokesman said: "The coffee mixture had been distributed in sachets nationwide.
"Officers found 900 boxes containing more than 9,000 sachets of the coffee mixture which retailed for more than RM80 per box."

The company used individuals to distribute the product in small quantities to evade detection by authorities, he said.

"Investigations revealed that the distributor attempted to mislead the public by claiming that the coffee mixture could provide an energy boost, besides being beneficial for men," the spokesman said.

If a coffee mixture is sold at a higher than normal price then it is almost certain to contain the sildenafil.

"A coffee mixture containing the dangerous chemical is sold for between RM5 and RM10 per sachet compared with coffee mixtures which retail for between RM1 and RM2 per sachet," the spokesman said.

Sildenafil is a controlled substance because of the dangers it poses to those suffering from heart ailments and high blood pressure.

Those who consume sildenafil without a doctor's prescription run the risk of headaches, stomach aches, hearing loss, vision impairment and muscle pain.

Source: The New Straits Times

Elderly man dies during sex

KUANTAN: A 78-year-old businessman died of a heart attack while allegedly in the midst of foreplay with a transvestite on Sunday.

Harun Mohd Salleh of Kubang Buaya here, was in the 31-year-old transvestite's room in Jalan Sultan Ismail about 5.40pm when he died.

The transvestite claimed Harun was caressing him when he had the heart attack.

Deputy district police chief Superintendent Zulkifli Taha said police had classified the case as sudden death.

Source: The New Straits Times

Salesgirl molested by deformed man

MARANG: A lame leg, a deformed left hand and a cross-eyed look. We would be forgiven for thinking, upon being told of a crime involving such a person, that he was the victim.
Not so. In this instance at least, the physically challenged man was the predator.

The man, said to be in his 40s or 50s, molested a 23-year-old salesgirl from Kampung Padang Limau Nipis, here, on Sunday.

The woman was alone in a textile shop when the man approached her.

Producing a welfare card, he asked for a donation.
After she had given him RM5, he struck up a conversation with the woman and persuaded her to sit next to him.

He performed a coin trick before touching the victim's right thigh. He then touched her near the groin before grabbing her buttocks.

As the man got up to leave, he rubbed her abdomen, saying she would give birth to twins. That's when she realised she had been taken advantage of. She later lodged a police report. Members of the public is advised to contact the police if they saw a man fitting the description.

Source: The New Straits Times

Woman loses RM19,000 to cyber lover

KUALA TERENGGANU: A 28-year-old woman who fell in love with a “cyber Casanova” lost RM19,000 after being duped into parting with her savings to help him start a business.

The woman had never met the stranger, purportedly from Ireland, and only corresponded with him via e-mail.

She had believed that the cyber love affair was genuine after he asked for her hand in marriage and pressed her to part with a sum amounting to thousands of ringgit, said to be for capital to set-up a textile business in Malaysia.

State commercial crime chief Supt Azmi Adam said the man had told the woman that he planned to have the business in the country to secure her future after they got married.

“The woman received an e-mail from the man on June 23 asking her to deposit the money into a bank account,” he said yesterday, adding the money was said to be for Customs clearance to enable textile materials to be brought into Malaysia.

Later, the man asked for more money, claiming that he had to pay a penalty of an equivalent of £7,000 (RM40,869) to the Irish authorities due to flaws in export documentation.

“The woman continued to deposit more money into the bank account, believing that the man really loved her and the business deal was genuine,” Supt Azmi said.

However, when the man keep pressing for more money, she realised it was a scam and lodged a police report at Jertih in Besut yesterday.

Supt Azmi said police traced the e-mail address and discovered that it originated from Nigeria. The woman had deposited the money into a local bank account.

Source: The Star Online

Sex sold at food court

FOREIGN women have been using food courts in Jalan Gelang, off Jalan Loke Yew, in Kuala Lumpur to solicit for sex.

A Sin Chew Daily special investigative team discovered that the women also walk the streets to look for potential customers.

The women bring their customers to nearby flats to have sex.

Each “session” costs customers between RM100 and RM150, regardless of the woman’s age, the daily reported.

According to a resident at the flat, the women begin their “business” from noon to 6am every day.

Most of the women seen during the day were middle-aged while the young ones appeared at night.

The resident alleged that a group of men, believed to be plainclothes policemen, would raid the streets several times a month and round up the foreigners.

“But the women always return after a few days,” he said.

Source: The Star Online

Look into the case, orders CJ

KUALA LUMPUR: The Chief Justice will direct the senior High Court judge to look into the case where a Sessions Court judge is planning to cane a youthful offender himself in the courtroom.

“I am asking the senior judge in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to look into it and take the appropriate action,” Tun Zaki Tun Azmi told The Star.

“We have to confirm what actually happened.”

Zaki said this when asked to comment on news reports yesterday of the “rotan” sentence imposed on Muhammad Syafiq Abd Wahab, 20, under Section 293(1)(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

On Friday, Sessions Court judge Zainal Abidin Kamaruddin had ruled that he would cane Muhammad Syafiq in the presence of his parents in court on July 15.

The former sales promoter, who had pleaded guilty, falls within the definition of a youthful offender since he was 19 when he, and a friend still at large, committed the robbery armed with a knife on Nov 16 last year.

While Section 293(1)(c) allows the court to order a youthful male offender “to be whipped with not more than 10 strokes of a light cane or rattan within the court premises and in the presence, if he desires to be present, of the parent or guardian of that offender,” it is silent as to who should carry out the caning.

It is understood, however, that a magistrate had imposed and carried out such a sentence some 20 years ago and that it had been done by magistrates sitting in juvenile courts a long time ago.

“These days, it’s rarely imposed, but magistrates used to carry out such caning in their chambers in the presence of the two juvenile court advisers, the prosecuting officer and a parent,” said a former member of the Judicial and Legal Services.

Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan said the council would write to the senior High Court judge tomorrow for a revision of the “rotan” sentence to be meted against Muham- mad Syafiq by the judge himself.

“The CPC provides for such a sentence but it’s a fundamental principle of the role of a judge in the criminal justice system that he cannot be both judge and executioner.”

In agreement, DAP chairman Karpal Singh and former UN Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Datuk Param Cumaraswamy urged the Chief Justice himself to intervene in this case.

“This also goes against international human rights laws,” said Param when contacted.

Karpal said that, although Section 288(4) of the CPC states that this type of “whipping” shall be inflicted by way of rattan, a judge implementing his own sentence would infringe the doctrine of separation of powers.

“A judge imposes a sentence. It is the executive which carries out that sentence.”

Karpal said a judge could not compromise his impartiality by “descending” to carry out a whipping sentence, adding it should instead be carried out by a court official designated for that purpose.

The Star Online

Judge to cane robber in court

KUALA LUMPUR: In a rare court ruling, a sales promoter who admitted to armed robbery was ordered to be caned 10 times in the court premises. And the judge himself will do the caning.

Sessions Court judge Zainal Abidin Kamarudin ordered Muhammad Syafiq Abd Wahab, 20, to be caned in the presence of his parents.

The judge said he would personally cane Muhammad Syafiq on July 15 using canes supplied by the court.

Zainal Abidin said 10 light canes (rotan) were to be used to carry out the sentence as provided for under the Criminal Procedure Code for youthful offenders.

He also ordered Muhammad Syafiq to carry out 200 hours of community service.

Turning to the parents, the judge told the father, pensioner Abd Wahab Jonit, 64, that the offence was rarely passed by court but urged him to accept it.

“I know it is not a nice feeling for a father to watch his son being caned but it has to be done by a judge,” he said.

Zainal Abidin then urged Muhammad Syafiq to seek forgiveness from his father.

The youth, though, merely stared at the judge.

Muhammad Syafiq admitted to robbing student Muhammad Fitri Muhammad Zamzuri, 16, of his identity card and cell phone while armed with a knife.

He committed the offence with another friend still at large near the football stadium in Cheras at 1.30am on Nov 16 last year.

According to the facts, two men on a motorcycle approached Fitri, who was with two friends and demanded they surrender their belongings to them.

Muhammad Syafiq, who was riding pillion, also asked if they had any drugs with them before slapping Fitri and kicking his friend on the face. He also pointed a knife at them.

Just then, four military and religious officers on an anti-vice operation came to the students’ aid and arrested Muhammad Syafiq.

Earlier, Zainal Abidin ticked off Muhammad Syafiq when he heard his confession, saying he had chosen bad friends.

Welfare officer Muhd Razmee Abdul Razak, who tendered a probation report for Muhammad Syafiq, recommended that the youth be given a community service sentence saying that 80% of those who went through such a sentence showed progress in their attitude.

Source: The Star Online

Identical twins escape death penalty

KUALA LUMPUR: A pair of identical twins was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here Friday of drug trafficking because of difficulty in identifying which of the two was in possession of the drugs five years ago.

Justice Zaharah Ibrahim, who described the case as unique, said that although R. Sathis Raj and R. Sabarish Raj, 27, looked alike and had identical DNA, which made it difficult to differentiate between them, there was no doubt that one of them was the culprit.

”My job, as required by the law, is to determine whether the prosecution has succeeded in establishing a prima facie against the two accused. In this case, both are identical twins.

”Arresting officer Chief Inspector N. Sekaran, when identifying the first twin, was sceptical, but when asked by counsel, said that he needed some time and yet was still not so sure when identifying the first twin.

”A member in the arresting team, Kpl Mohamad Sidek Paiman, at first could not identify, but later asked for both the twins to stand and said there was a difference in their height. However, he identified the first twin as the one wearing spectacles.

”The question is, which of the twins was arrested first. Is it the one wearing the spectacles because at the time of arrest both were not wearing spectacles.

”Mohamad Sidek said he only identified them from the shirts they wore on that day,” she added.

Sathis Raj and Sabarish Raj were charged with their brother, R. Deva Raj, 43, now deceased, with two counts of trafficking in 166,336gm of canabis and 1,762gm of raw opium at a house in Jalan SS 2/19, Petaling Jaya, at about 4.05pm on Aug 5, 2003. Justice Zaharah said that based on the testimonies by the two policemen, there were doubts and the prosecution had failed to determine which of the twins was in possession of the drugs.

“One of the accused should be called to enter his defence but the question is which twin, because even the DNA cannot be used to determine the identity. On the day of the incident, both were not wearing spectacles. Otherwise, that could have been used as a basis for Mohamad Sidek to identify the first twin.

She said that although one of them was indeed in possession of the drugs, she was acquitting both because she could not afford to send the wrong person to the gallows.

After Justice Zaharah delivered her judgment, the twins, both clad in white shirts, cried and hugged each other.

Deputy public prosecutor Rosidah Abu Bakar prosecuted while counsel Gurbachan Singh appeared for the twins. - Bernama

Source: The Star Online

New Era College senate head punched while giving speech

KAJANG: What started out as a happy event turned chaotic at the New Era College convocation.

A man went up to the stage as college senate chairman Dr Yap Sin Tian was giving a speech and punched him in the face in front of 500 people, including students, parents and guests.

However, the attacker managed to flee the scene.

Dr Yap, who is Dong Zong (the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia) president, was ushered to a seat with a fractured cheekbone and nose. An ambulance arrived later to send him to the Kajang Specialist Hospital.

College principal Mok Soon Choong took over the podium to continue the speech and calmed the situation.

Witnesses said the attacker wore a shirt used by members of a fund-raising event in the college. The man has been identified as a former college graduate.

Dong Jiao Zong Education Centre directors, who were seated near the stage, tried to catch him but he managed to escape.

It is unclear if the attack is linked to an ongoing squabble between Dr Yap and the college’s former principal Dr Kua Kia Soong.

Dr Yap had supported Dong Zong when it did not extend Dr Kua’s contract which expired in December.

The Dong Jiao Zong has made a police report on the attack.

College officials said they would conduct their own investigation.

In Penang, MCA vice-president Datuk Liow Tiong Lai expressed regret over the attack.

“It is sad to see such an incident happening in an educational body. Any problem should be settled without the use of violence,” he said.

Source: The Star Online