By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
Karpal Singh’s press release legalese confounded Utusan’s Mohd Nizam into thinking he had insulted the Sultan of Perak. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 —
Utusan Malaysia reporter Mohd Nizam Mohd Yatim told the High Court today that he thought the phrase “ultra vires” contained in a press release issued by Karpal Singh meant the DAP man was insulting the Perak Sultan.
Mohd Nizam, the prosecution’s first witness in Karpal’s sedition trial, was subjected to a rigorous cross-examination by defence counsel Jagdeep Singh Deo, and appeared rattled by the lawyer’s questions.
At one point the Utusan Malaysia reporter did not appear to even know what Karpal Singh was being charged with.
The reporter was also unable to show a clear understanding of the barrage of questions by Jagdeep on the four-page press statement distributed by Karpal during a press conference on Feb 6 this year.
Based on a report written by him and published by the newspaper, Mohd Nizam had been put on the witness stand by the prosecution to show that Karpal had committed sedition.
By questioning him over his understanding of what transpired during Karpal's press conference, the defence was attempting to prove he was an unreliable witness.
The DAP chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP was charged with sedition on March 17 for saying Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin's removal as Perak mentri besar by Sultan Azlan Shah could be questioned in a court of law.
The veteran lawyer-politician was charged in the Sessions Court in KL before judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948.
Karpal is further accused of several other seditious statements related to the entire Perak constitutional crisis which began two months ago.
He is accused of committing the crime during a press conference at his law firm here on February 6.
Mohd Nizam was questioned earlier by the deputy public prosecutor Azlina Rasdi.
Azlina had asked Mohd Nizam to tell the court who was at the press conference as well as where it was held, before requesting the reporter read the press release provided.
She also asked him to summarize the contents to the court.
Mohd Nizam: “If the Sultan still wants to pick Zambry as mentri besar then Pakatan Rakyat government has no choice but to take legal action.”
He added that after the press conference there was a question and answer session. He told the court that a reporter asked Karpal if he would be suing the sultan.
“Karpal said yes,” Nizam said in his testimony which was later challenged by the defence.
During cross-examination, Jagdeep had asked the 38-year-old reporter: “Do you agree that his (Karpal) view on the constitution is sought after?”
Mohd Nizam: “I am not sure.”
Jagdeep: “Do you agree that he (Karpal) is known as a smart laywer?”
Mohd Nizam: “I am not sure.”
Jagdeep: “If you still do not know after eight years working then you should start doing your work properly.”
Jagdeep then proceeded to ask him if he understood the press release since it was in English.
Mohd Nizam: “I only understand it in general and not thoroughly.”
Jagdeep then asked the reporter if he agreed that what was said in the press conference was only an opinion of the constitutional crisis in Perak.
“I only report and do not give opinion,” Mohd Nizam replied.
The answer appeared to irritate Jagdeep who accused Mohd Nizam of being insincere.
Jagdeep then told Mohd Nizam to read part of the press release to the court.
Mohd Nizam: “Although the orders have been confirmed by the Sultan. If the decision is ultra vires then the decision can be adjudicated by the court.”
Jagdeep then asked Nizam to explain what ultra vires means to the court.
Nizam looking confused and replied: “To insult.”
Jagdeep then told Mohd Nizam that his misunderstanding of the word had caused chaos in the country because the word actually means “beyond the powers”.
Mohd Nizam was then asked what questions were thrown at Karpal during the press conference.
Nizam explained that reporters wanted to clarify if Karpal meant that he was going to bring the Sultan to court.
“So do you agree that Karpal did not say that he will sue?” Jagdeep asked.
“Agree,” Nizam replied.
After the cross-examination, the defence team requested Judicial Commissioner Azman Abdullah for the witness’s cross-examination to be adjourned until it could question another witness on the transcript of the press conference.
Azman then asked the prosecution to call its next witness.
But the prosecution could not bring its next witness, an RTM reporter, because he had failed to show up and could not be contacted.
The trial was then adjourned to tomorrow afternoon.
(2) TEOH PROBE: No notes made by MACC investigating officer
2009/08/12
SHAH ALAM: The inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock was shocked by the statement of a police investigating officer that no notes were made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer who questioned Teoh.
Inspector Mohd Zulaimi Zubir, 29, from the Shah Alam police district headquarters' crime branch said the non-existence of the notes was detected during investigation on 10 pages of the official daily notebook, belonging to MACC officer Mohd Anuar Ismail, which was seized on July 18.
The lawyer appointed by the Government to assist in the inquest, Tan Hock Chuan, confirmed that Mohd Anuar was responsible for questioning Teoh.
"My examination revealed that in the book under July 8, 2009 there was noted 'rumah/putrajaya/pejabat/tol RM'(house/putrajaya/pejabat/tol RM) only. For July 15 and 16, there were no notes made," he said.
Teoh, 30, political aide to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was found dead on July 16 on level five of Plaza Masalam here after giving a statement as a witness into alleged abuse of state government allocations at the Selangor MACC office located in the same building.
Asked by Tan that from July 1 till July 18, whether there was only one entry that he saw, Mohd Zulaimi said: "Yes".
Before this, Mohd Zulaimi said he only seized the daily day of Mohd Anuar and other daily books were seized by other police officers.
In the proceedings, the original book was not marked as an exibit as it was still being used and only a copy was tendered but it was certified by a MACC deputy director.
Mohd Zulaimi also said he seized the hard disk of the CCTV recoring at Plaza Masalam and was ordered to investigate the movements of Teoh, MACC officers and other individuals in the building.
Mohd Zulaimi, the 11th witness, said before the seizure, he had seen the movements on the CCTV recording and saw Teoh entering the lobby at the 4th floor at 6.08pm.
"The next day (of the incident), I was instructed to identify the time the deceased entered, of the movements of MACC officers and other individuals in the building from 00:00 hours July 15 till 7am the next day," he said.
He said the CCTV recording was later turned over to the the Forensics Department on July 18 for further investigation but there were several difficulties to detect movements due to technical problems.
Teoh's movements were only seen through a copy made using 'pen drive' but it could not be printed and Mohd Zulaimi said with the help of the security division at Plaza Masalam, 47 images of people going in and out on July 16 were detected.
He said the recording was seen on July 19 at the office of security office of Plaza Masalam and not at the office of the Forensics Department of Bukit Aman.
Earlier, Mohd Zulaimi said his investigation revealed that there was no CCTV camera in the area Teoh was found dead and most of the cameras were at the car park, the main entrance and the entrance road to the supermarket.
Relating his involvement in the case investigation, Mohd Zulaimi said he was at the scene at 2.20pm and the body had already been covered by a black plastic piece.
"I lifted up the plastic and saw the condition of the body and saw that it was that of a Chinese man lying on his right and there was dried blood around his mouth and nose.
"The body had been left there and not much later, I saw several officers believed to be from the MACC come down to the scene and I met them. They confirmed that the deceased was one of their witnesses," he said.
Mohd Zulaimi said at 3.10pm of the same day, he and several personnel had gone to the MACC office to get details of the deceased and he later instructed to check Teoh's record using his identity card number.
He said he found there was no criminal record.
The proceedings before coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas only rested at 1.35pm after the lawyers for Teoh's family and the Selangor government watched Teoh's movements in the CCTV recording. - Bernama
