KUALA LUMPUR: Two Chinese nationals will stand trial in April for allegedly trespassing into Wisma Pertahanan’s restricted zone by flying a drone to capture aerial footage without approval.
Li Luorong, 26, and Chen Junhao, 19, will go on trial for four days starting April 27 before Sessions Court judge Izralizam Sanusi.
During mention proceedings today, Izralizam set the trial dates which were mutually agreed to by deputy public prosecutor Faizah Khalilah Zaberi and defence lawyer S. Rubanyah.
Faizah Khalilah informed the court that the prosecution is still in the process of obtaining several documents and requested an additional two weeks to secure them.
“These documents pertain to the official declaration of Wisma Pertahanan as a restricted area by the chief government security officer as well as details on the security perimeter set by the armed forces headquarters,” she said.
Rubanyah did not object to the matter. The court set Oct 10 for the next mention.
On the first charge, Li and Chen are jointly accused of flying a DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drone to capture aerial footage in a gazetted prohibited area without authorisation with the intent of acquiring official information detrimental to national security.
The incident allegedly occurred at 11.50am at the Defence Ministry’s Padang Bola B area in Jalan Padang Tembak on Aug 6.
The offence under Section 3(a) of the Official Secrets Act read with Section 34 of the Penal Code carries a life imprisonment upon conviction.
Section 3(a) covers any person who, for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of Malaysia, approaches, inspects, passes over, is in the vicinity of, or enters any prohibited place.
On the second charge, they are accused of using the same drone to capture aerial footage for surveying purposes without obtaining prior authorisation from the authorities at the same time, location and date.
The charge under Section 4(1) of the Act, read with Section 34 of the Code, carries a jail term of one to 14 years upon conviction.
Section 4(1) applies when a person takes or makes any document, measurement, sounding, or survey of or within a prohibited area.
Section 34 covers criminal acts committed by several persons with a common intention.
On Aug 15, Wangsa Maju police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Lazim Ismail said the duo were caught by Military Police while operating a drone on a football field near Wisma Pertahanan.
Lazim had said preliminary investigations revealed that the pair were instructed by their employer to record the drone footage at the site but were unaware of the actual purpose.
They were denied bail.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
