COURT TOLD EBIT LEW, STAFF USED MOBILE PHONE NUMBER REGISTERED IN WIFE'S NAME

TENOM, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Farah Pardani, wife of Ebit Irawan Ibrahim Lew or Ebit Lew, told the Magistrate's Court here that her husband and staff used a phone number registered in her name.

Farah, 43, who is the 16th prosecution witness in the sexual harassment case involving Ebit, said there were two phone numbers registered in her name and one of them was used jointly by her husband and staff.

She said the mobile phone used for the number in question was also managed by staff to produce videos, make live streaming, content and video editing, while Ebit used the same device for the short message system, video production and updating finished materials.

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The witness also said that Ebit did not have any other phone numbers other than the one registered in her name, however, the number was no longer used after the mobile phone in question was confiscated in 2021.

Farah also said that she did not inform about the use of the phone by Ebit's staff during the recording of the conversation with the police because she did not fully understand the questions put to her.

Farah replied, "I do not remember" when asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nor Azizah Mohamad whether she requested a re-explanation of the questions she did not understand from the police.

In the prosecution's cross-examination, the witness did not agree with Nor Azizah's claim that her testimony in court today was different from the recording of the conversation on Sept 30, 2021 regarding the use of the mobile phone by Ebit and his staff.

Nor Azizah: Earlier in court you said that the mobile phone was used by your husband (Ebit) and his staff, but in the recording of the conversation with the investigating officer, you stated that your husband's phone was with him and that he was the one who used the phone, so there is a contradiction between your testimony in court and the testimony with the investigating officer, which one is a lie?

Farah: What I mean is that when the investigating officer asked, she wanted to know in detail who was holding the phone and using it...if he wanted to make a video or meet someone to make content, my husband would immediately give it to the staff, so I didn't know that it needed to be stated when the question was asked.

The prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutors Analia Kamaruddin and Muhammad Hidayat Wahab while Ebit was represented by lawyers Datuk Ram Singh, Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki, Timothy Daut and Prabjit Singh Gill.

Ebit, 38, is facing 11 charges, including defaming the modesty of a woman in her 40s by sending obscene words and pictures to the victim’s phone number via WhatsApp between March and June 2021 under Section 509 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison or a fine or both if convicted.

The trial before Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA