KUALA LUMPUR: Two men raised suspicion when they insisted on being let into the courtroom where Israeli man, Shalom Avitan, was to be charged with possessing bullets and trafficking firearms today.
This was despite the high security mounted by the police and court officials since 7am with the proceedings restricted to the media and the authorities.
Over 20 press members from various agencies were required to obtain passes to enter the courtroom and those without were barred from covering the proceedings.
Both men, who were unrelated to each other, however, were not authorised by any party to enter the courtroom.
Despite being barred, both of them continued to linger around the area and made repeated requests to be allowed in.
One of them, who claimed to be a student lawyer, looked dissatisfied and even took pictures of media members who were waiting in the corridor.
Several plainclothes policemen questioned him and conducted a body search.
After that, he was no longer seen in the court complex.
The other man, who claimed to be a lawyer representing the intended victim of Avitan, had insisted on meeting with the deputy public prosecutors.
After the proceedings, the prosecution said they had received a call from the man but they could not verify if he was a bona fide counsel for the intended victim.
Avitan, 38, was believed to have come to Malaysia to kill the head of a rival criminal gang.
Earlier, he pleaded not guilty to two charges of possessing 158 bullets and trafficking six firearms in a hotel room in Jalan Ampang last month.