17-05-2025
Trial for remaining five Geng Upik members starts June 3
Published on: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Published on: Sat, May 17, 2025
By: Jo Ann Mool Text Size: File photo of Maslan (left) with others who are still maintaining their not guilty pleas. Kota Kinabalu: The High Court has scheduled an 18-day trial for the case of five individuals, including a Datuk, who were charged with being members of the organised crime group 'Geng Upik', commencing June 3. Judge Datuk Dr Lim Hock Leng on Friday maintained the dates on June 3-5, June 11 - 13, July 15 - 18, Oct 7 - 10 and Oct 21-24 for the trial of the five accused.
Advertisement The five, Datuk Maslan Sani, 41, Nelson Yen Yee Chung, 46, Zulkahar Dusing, 38, Rahman Burijin, 44, and Jaisalfian Jaineh @ Zaini, 45, were charged with being members of the 'Geng Upik' organised crime group between 2015 and 2023. The charge under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between five years and 20 years on conviction. The prosecution informed the court that they have 36 witnesses for the trial. Earlier, at Friday's case mention, the prosecution updated the court on the case that Jaisalfian, Zulkahar, and Rahman had not submitted any representations and had given no indication to do so.
Advertisement The prosecution further said that Yen's counsel informed the prosecution that he would be discussing other possible options with his client, and that the proposal forwarded by Maslan's counsel in a representation letter received on 24 March could not be accepted. The five were among 15 individuals charged with committing the offence. On March 18 and 20, this year, ten of them were each sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to the alternative charge of assisting an organised criminal group to further the interest of the group between June 15 and Dec 24, 2023. The alternative charges under Section 130W of the Penal Code were offered by the prosecution to the 10 individuals following the acceptance of their representation letters to the prosecution. The 10 were Mahathir Jibarail, 49, Mohd Faridzul Asmahadi, 32, Mohd Fikri Asme, 29, and Manan Ungok @ Salleh, 52, Mohd Fauzie Rablin, 34, Fazrul Bahar, 33, Shahlan Shah Abdul Samad, 38, Mazlan Mahmud, 49, Alkan Abraham, 36, and Norsyafilah Pawawoi, 28. The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutors Datuk Nazran Mohd Sham, Lina Hanini Ismail, Siti Hajar Mat Radzi and Nur Ainaa Ridzwan. Maslan is represented by counsel Hamid Ismail, Yen by counsel Datuk Ram Singh, Zulkahar by counsel Shahlan Jufri, Rahman by counsel Jakariya Ab Jalil while Jaisalfian by counsel Muhamad Amirul Amin. Meanwhile, a 29-year-old man was fined RM1,600 or one month jail for having gambling paraphernalia illegally. Syamri Suharto pleaded guilty before Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin to having five 4D tickets without a valid licence on Jan 13, this year, at 3pm, at Donggongon town, Penampang. The charge is under Section 9(1) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 which provides for a fine of up to RM5,000 or a jail term of up to six months or both on conviction. The facts of the case presented by the prosecution stated that Syamri was arrested by police during Ops Dadu for involving in the gambling activity. The paraphernalia including a handphone, a portable printer and RM40 in cash were seized from Syamri. The court ordered the seized money to be forfeited as government revenue. Inspector Yusdi Basri prosecuted. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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