Judgement reserved in lawyer's appeal for access to suspected hacker

SINGAPORE — The High Court has reserved judgement on lawyer M Ravi's challenge to a district judge’s decision to deny him access to his client, suspected hacker James Raj. James Raj Arokiasamy, 35, who went by the name 'The Messiah' online, was back in court this morning after his lawyer M Ravi challenged a district judge’s decision denying him access to his client. This morning, Mr Ravi argued that his client should have immediate access to him. However, the prosecution argued that there is no definition of what a "reasonable time period" is. Raj was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police on Nov 4 and handed over to the Singapore Police the next day and has been in police custody since then. He was charged on Nov 12 for hacking the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website from a computer in Kuala Lumpur. He is also suspected of carrying out hacking attacks on websites including that of City Harvest Church co-founder Sun Ho and the People’s Action Party Community Foundation. High Court judge Justice Choo Han Teck has asked the prosecution and the defence to file submissions on what the reasonable time is for an accused person to have access to counsel. Justice Choo also allowed Mr Ravi to speak to James Raj after the hearing without the prosecution's objecting. Raj will be claiming trial.