BY L. SUGANYA

PETALING JAYA: The lawyers of an ex-Malaysia Airlines (MAS) steward who is detained in France for alleged sexual assault of a passenger will push for his quick release and return to Malaysia.

The accused’s lawyer Shailender Bhar, said that the steward has been under house arrest for the past three weeks with his movements being restricted.

“Investigations will carry on for the next year or two. He can’t leave the country till it is completed,” he said.

Bhar added that the steward is living with a French government approved Paris resident and that the accused has to appear at the police station on a weekly basis.

“What we are looking to do is to push for the judge to release and return him to the country.

“The investigations will be going on for a long time. He doesn’t even have a job and the expenses are high,” he said.

Bhar said that the steward was willing to cooperate fully with French police and government if the need arises.

“He has fully cooperated so far. That has been his stand from day one,” Bhar said, adding that he hoped that the steward would be “totally released”.

It was reported that the steward was detained on Aug 7 for the alleged sexual assault of a 26-year-old Australian passenger.

The passenger claimed that the steward sat next to her and gave her a massage under the pretext of comforting her when she expressed her nervousness about flying, before the incident took place.

The company dismissed the steward, who had worked for MAS for 32 years, following the allegations.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/01/03/mas-steward-paris-detained/