Tharmendran 'Re-arrested' Outside Shah Alam Court

SHAH ALAM 25 November - There was high drama at the Shah Alam court compound when former Air Force sergeant N Tharmendran was re-arrested by eight Air Force personnel.

The incident occured at 11.45am just after the Shah Alam High Court had fixed Dec 17 for decision on Tharmendran's application to strike out the charge for the theft of two fighter jet engines.

On Jan 6, Tharmendran, 42, was charged under Section 380, read together with Section 109 of the Penal Code, with theft together with former company director K Rajandra Prasad, 38.

Tharmendran was charged with stealing the jet engines in December 2007 at the air movement section of the RMAF base in Subang.

He is also charged with conspiring in the theft of the two engines with senior serviceman Mohamad Shukri Mohamad Yusop at the material processing shed (Matra 1) of the RMAF base in Sungai Besi.

According to lawyer N Surendran, his client was just outside the court compound when the airmen approached his client and arrested him in front of his father N Nagarajah.

"I told them that Tharmendran is a civilian and the air force had no right to arrest him.

"But according to the Provost Marshall Lt Col Mohd Razif Razak, Tharmendran had been classified as a deserter for missing work since September," he said.

"This is clearly contempt of court. The arrest is unlawful as my client is a civilian who had left the force. I will hold the Defence Ministry and RMAF liable for this."

Surendran said he was told by the provost that his client would undergo a medical examination and would be detained at the Air Force Batu Cantonment centre in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur.
According to a statement by the Defence Ministry's corporate communications unit, Tharmendran had violated the Armed Forces Act 1972 after failing to report for work after posting bail on Sept 6.

Surendran said that had urged the provost to guarantee that the two senior air force officers who allegedly meted physically torture on Tharmendran be denied access from his client.

“He has agreed to this verbally. However, Nagarajah and I are worried for Tharmendran's safety as they had hurt him before while in custody,” said Surendran, who has previously also claimed that he was threatened by the RMAF.

Surendran said that he will be filing a habeas corpus application soon to seek Tharmendran's release and compel the air force to show cause.

“I will try and get his signature to sign the habeas corpus application. We will file it as soon as possible. They had clearly committed contempt by arresting my client.

"This is a clear violation in the administration of justice... I am also upset that four or five police personnel who were also at the court compound did not do anything," he said.

Surendran said that Tharmendran's contract with the air force had expired on May 28 and it was not renewed.

“Furthermore, my client had not received any wages since then,” he said.

The missing F5E jet engines were allegedly stolen from the RMAF base in Sungai Besi and smuggled to Uruguay.

In October, a Uruguayan court had ruled that the two engines in government custody belonged to Malaysia.

The Malaysian Defence Ministry is preparing to retrieve the engines.