ALOR STAR: Less than a month after the leader of an underworld gang known as ‘Geng Pak Su’ was brought to court for his involvement in organised crime, 20 of his henchmen were slapped with similar charges today.
The men aged between 18 and 56, arrived at the Alor Star Court Complex at 9.30am under heavy police guard.
Their family members who waited outside the Sessions Court since 9am were heard shouting to the men to cover their faces when members of the media tried to photograph them.
However, none of the family members were allowed to enter the court room to follow the court proceedings.
In the dock were Fairus Hafiz Mohd Yusoff, 24; M Murugan, 36; Rosli Ariffin, 40; Sariman Idris, 42; Mohd Norhizam Zamzuri, 29; Faizol Sobri Romli, 29; Amirul Ashraf Hussain, 20; Muhamad Ashraf Aziz, 23; Faizal Azlyshah Romli, 33; Aziz Othman, 56, Muhamad Asrun Amir Hussain, 23; Muhammad Luqman Hakim Zainal, 18; Nur Arif Norzaidi, 19; Muhamad Amir Daud, 22; Norhasrul Izwan Noraini, 33 dan Joni Yakub, 37; Zamzuri Aziz, 22; Shamsol Long, 45; Muhammad Khairul Azhar Ghazali, 21 and Mohamad Rozaidi Sabu, 26.
The men, clad in long pants and t-shirts, were calm when the charges were read to each of them.
They were charged for allegedly being involved in ‘Geng Pak Su’ under Section 130V (1) of the Penal Code, (Act 574) which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years.
Sixteen of them were charged for being members of an organised crime gang between Jan 1, 2015 and Sept 11, 2017.
Two men, namely Zamzuri and Shamsol, were charged for their involvement between Jan 1, 2015 and Sept 12, 2017 while Khairul Azhar and Rozaidi were allegedly involved in the gang from Jan 1, 2015 until Sept 13, 2017.
All of them nodded in understanding but no plea was recorded.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin said no bail was offered as the offence is non bailable.
Judge Amernudin Ahmad fixed Nov 20 for case mention.
Aziz was represented by counsel G. Ravishankar while the rest was not represented.
On Sept 26, Pak Su or Johari Ariffin, 35, and his three right-hand men Norazif Ahmad, 37, Shahadan Salim, 38, and Rosidi Aziz, 35 were brought to the Sessions Court to face charges for their involvement in the organised gang between Jan 1 2015 and Aug 30 this year.