PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court here has fixed a nine-day trial for the case of detained Israeli, Avitan Shalom, 38, who is accused of trafficking firearms and possessing 200 bullets.
According to The Star, Sessions court judge Norina Zainol Abidin fixed September 30, Oct 1 - 3, and Oct 7 - 11, for trial when the case was brought for mention here on Tuesday (May 21).
She also set the case for further mention on June 28.
During proceedings this morning, deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam told the court that the prosecution would be calling 20 witnesses.
Additionally, the prosecution also amended several details on the two charge sheets; from 158 to 200 bullets and the serial numbers of the firearms involving Glock and Stoeger Cougar.
The amended charge sheets were then read out to Avitan who pleaded not guilty.
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Meanwhile, Avitan’s lawyer Navinjit Singh told the judge that his client’s name was wrongly recorded on the charge sheet as “Avitan Shalom”.
“When the accused entered this country, he used a French passport. The name that appears on the passport is ‘Shalom Avitan’ and not ‘Avitan Shalom’.
“’Avitan Shalom’ could be someone else,“ Navinjit was quoted as saying.
In response Mohamad Mustaffa said the prosecution had referred to the French passport and had no intention to amend the name on the charge sheet at this juncture.
“It is clearly stated in the passport that the surname is Avitan and the given name is Shalom.
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“In some jurisdictions, they may refer to the surname as first name, and the given name as the second name.
“It’s just a matter of style but we are referring to the same document,“ he was quoted as saying..
Navinjit added the defence stood by their contention on the naming convention.
“We are afraid this small mistake might influence the court,“ he added.
Norina said the court took note of the objection and asked parties to make submissions on the issue later during the trial.
