33 men charged with being members of secret society

SEREMBAN: Thirty-three men were charged today with being members of a secret society known as "Geng 36" that is allegedly involved in organised crime such as murder and extortion.
However, no plea was recorded from the 33 accused aged between 25 and 54.
They allegedly committed the offence in Negri Sembilan between Jan 1, 2015 and March 29 this year, as charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code, which provides for a minimum five years to maximum 20 years imprisonment on conviction.
Sessions Court judge Fathiya Idris set May 22 for mention pending transfer of the case to the Seremban High Court.
Ten of the accused were represented by lawyers B. Jayaprakash Rao, Paulkrishna Raja and S. Thevar, while the rest were unrepresented.
Deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin appeared for the prosecution.
All the accused were later taken to Sungai Udang Prison in Malacca.
Earlier, heavily armed and masked members of the Bukit Aman Special Task Force on Organised Crime (STAFOC) stood outside the court in readiness for any untoward incident. — Bernama