KUALA LUMPUR: Six men pleaded not guilty in the High Court here today to a charge of being members and consorting with an organised criminal group known as “Geng William”.
Low Sing Hwa, 30, Ang Boon Leong, 40, Lim Sin Chye, 45, Tham Hock Ann, 37, Liew Chee Hwa, 30, and Choo Jia Lerk, 24, made the plea after the charge was read out to them separately before judge Datuk Nordin Hassan.
Low, Ang, Lim and Tham were charged with becoming members of the “Geng William” organised criminal group in Kuantan district, Pahang, between January 2015 and Feb 4, 2017.
They were charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years, if found guilty.
The other two — Liew and Choo — were charged with consorting with members of the organised criminal group without reasonable excuse between April 2015 and Nov 20, 2016, also in Kuantan, Pahang.
The charge, under Section 130Y of the Penal Code, provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and is liable to fine, if found guilty.
Deputy public prosecutor Ashraf Md Kamal, who prosecuted, did not offer bail as the offence is under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, and not bailable.
He also applied for all the accused, represented by lawyer S.Sundarajan, to be tried together as the cases involved the same witnesses.
Following that, the court set three days, from May 31 to June 2, for the hearing. – Bernama