KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has rejected Israeli national Avitan Shalom's bid to review his gun trafficking charges.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustafa P. Kunyalam said this during the hearing of the case before Sessions Court judge Norina Zainol Abidin today.
The prosecutor said the 38-year-old accused has submitted his representation letter to the AGC on July 8.
"The AGC rejected his application today, so I suggest that the trial dates set in the previous proceedings remain unchanged," he said.
Previously, the court scheduled the trial to run for nine days, starting from Sept 30, Oct 1 to 3, and Oct 7 to 11. The court also fixed Sept 9 for next case management.
The court also fixed Sept 2 for case management.
Shalom, 38, claimed trial to the two charges framed under the Arms Act and the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 before Sessions Court judge Tasnim Abu Bakar.
On the first charge, he had in his possession ammunition amounting to 158 bullets stored in four boxes without an arms licence or arms permit.
The offence under Section 8(a) of the Arms Act 1960 carries imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or the maximum RM10,000 fine.
On the second charge, he was accused of trafficking six firearms, namely Glock 19 USA 9x 10, Sig Sauer P320SP, Cougar 8000 FT, Glock 17 Gen4 Austria 9x19, N&P 9C Smith & Wesson Spring Field MA USA and Stoeger Cougar 8000F.
The offence under Section 7(1) of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 carries an imprisonment for a term of not less than 30 years but not exceeding 40 years, with whipping of not less than six strokes.
He was accused of committing both offences between 6.46pm on March 26 and 6pm on March 28 in a room of a hotel in Jalan Ampang.
On March 27, he was detained at a hotel in Jalan Ampang where he was found with six handguns.
Investigations found that Avitan entered the country on March 12 via a flight from the United Arab Emirates on a French passport.
He is believed to have come to Malaysia to kill the head of a rival criminal family.