Harakah ex-editor to testify in lawyer disciplinary case linked to Altantuya killing
A former senior editor of Harakahdaily will appear before a disciplinary committee tomorrow to reveal that corporate lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham was responsible for drafting the contentious sworn document related to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Sources told The Malaysian Insider that the former editor of the PAS official organ will also give evidence that this information was related to him in an interview with carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan in late 2012.
Sources said the editor's testimony was crucial as it is intended to corroborate the evidence of two other witnesses, both lawyers, who had appeared before the disciplinary committee earlier.
One of the witnesses was lawyer Americk Sidhu who was the counsel for the late P. Balasubramaniam, a private detective, who had come out with two statutory declarations (SD) at the height of the Altantuya murder investigations.
In his first SD, Balasubramaniam had incriminated then deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and several other personalities in Altantuya's murder.
Balasubramaniam’s second sworn statement came a day after his first on July 3, 2008, where he withdrew his first SD, claiming he had signed it under duress.
"The lawyer for the Bar Council will now put the editor on the stand with the intention to build a water tight case that a profesional misconduct had taken place," a source told The Malaysian Insider.
During the interview with the editor in late 2012, which was recorded and uploaded by PAS organ on its “TVPAS” channel and on YouTube, Deepak had let slip the lawyer’s name when explaining his role in the second SD.
But in the 14 minutes and 39 seconds video clip, the name of the lawyer was muted out.
The crux of the disciplinary proceeding is that Abraham was said to have prepared the contents of the second SD when it was public knowledge that Balasubramaniam's lawyer at that time was Americk.
Abraham has been hauled up before a three-man Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary committee for professional misconduct for alleged unauthorised preparation of Balasubramaniam's second SD.
In March, Bar Council chairman Christopher Leong was the first to take the stand but proceedings were then stood down for seven months after the Bar Council lawyer, Lambert Rasaratnam, recused himself as he was not comfortable to lead evidence and cross-examine Abraham.
Another senior lawyer Datuk Bastian Pius Vendargon has been appointed to replace Rasaratnam.
The ex-editor is the fifth witness to give evidence.
Bar Council secretary Richard Wee, an unidentified senior corporate lawyer and Americk have also testified.
Sources said that apart from Deepak, commissioner of oaths Zainal Abidin Muhayat and lawyer M. Arulampalam have also been identified as potential witnesses.
The carpet dealer had earlier admitted that he had helped to get Balasubramaniam to repudiate his first SD by finding two lawyers to draft the new statement.
Balasubramaniam died of a heart attack on March 15 last year, weeks after returning to Malaysia from self-exile abroad.
Americk told the Malaysian Bar's annual general meeting (AGM) last year that Abraham had admitted to him that he was the one who had drafted the second statutory declaration.
He also later told reporters that the directive to Abraham came from Najib.
"I'm not interested in lodging a complaint with the board. My agenda is just to find out who instructed him to do it," Americk had said then.
Two former police commandos – Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri – who were charged with Altantuya's murder, were found guilty and sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court.
Their convictions, however, were overturned by the Court of Appeal last year.
The Federal Court had heard Putrajaya's appeal and the final verdict is expected before the end of the year.
Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged with abetting them, was acquitted without his defence being called in 2008.
The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board (ADSB) decided to hold an inquiry after finding there was a prima facie case against Abraham for professional misconduct.
A committee, comprising two lawyers and a layman, is looking into the allegations of misconduct under Section 94 of the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976 for "conduct or omission to act by a lawyer in a professional capacity which amounts to grave impropriety".
The ASDB, which is a body independent of the Bar Council, is statutorily tasked to investigate professional misconduct.
Lawyers familiar with disciplinary proceedings said the committee would make its findings and recommendations to the board, including the punishment to be meted out for misconduct.
Under the LPA, a lawyer found guilty of misconduct could be reprimanded, fined, suspended from practice for up to five years, or struck off the roll. – November 14, 2014.
