Police at Subang Dam, where the bone fragments of Mongolian model, Miss Altantuya Shaariibuu were found. |
The Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial has been put off until Wednesday to make way for a 2004 part-heard murder case following a complaint by the counsel in that case.
Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yassin, who only heard the case for half the day today, informed the prosecution and the defence that he had allowed the application by the counsel to try the part-heard case at 2pm and for the whole of tomorrow.
The case involving Vasutevan Batumalai was scheduled for hearing today and tomorrow but Mohd Zaki had previously decided to hear his other cases on Friday to concentrate on the Altantuya case from Monday to Thursday. The judge said K.A. Ramu, counsel for Vasutevan, had persistently asked him in a raised voice last Friday to give priority to his case because his client was sick and had been remanded since 2004.
The trial of C/Insp Azilah Hadri, 31, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 36, both of the Special Action Force, and political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 47, had been going on since June 18.
The two policemen are accused of murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between Lots 12843 and 16735, Mukim Bukit Raja between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year while Abdul Razak is accused of abetting them.
The High Court here will decide on Wednesday whether corporal Sirul Azhar Umar's testimony on the disclosure of the location where Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu was blasted is admissible as a relevant fact in the trial.
Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yassin deferred decision after hearing submissions from all the parties concerned today.
The issue before the court is whether Sirul Azhar's statement, in which he allegedly said that he could show where Altantuya's body was blasted, accompanied with his conduct in showing the place to the police, can be admitted under section 8 of the Evidence Act 1950.
Last Thursday, Sirul Azhar's counsel, Kamarul Hisham Kamarudin, objected to the evidence of the prosecution's 23rd witness, ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin, relating to Sirul Azhar's disclosure of the location where Altantuya's body was blasted.
Zulkarnain had told the court that Sirul Azhar had gone with a police team to the crime scene in Puncak Alam and allegedly uttered the words: "Saya boleh tunjuk tempat perempuan itu diletupkan." (I can show the place where the woman was exploded.)
Kamarul Hisham had objected on the ground that the evidence was prejudicial and inadmissible but deputy public prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah said the evidence was admissible under section 8 of the Evidence Act as it only revealed Sirul Azhar's conduct.
Sirul Azhar, 36, and Chief Insp Azilah Hadri, 31, both of the Special Action Squad, are jointly charged with murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.
Political analyst Abdul Razak, 47, is charged with abetting them. Kamarul Hisham submitted today that the word 'conduct' in section 8 of the Evidence Act 1950 did not include a statement made by an accused person.
He said a statement, coupled with a conduct, made by an accused was caught under section 113 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and could not be obtained by inducement, threat or promise
Counsel Wong Kian Kheong, for Abdul Razak, submitted that section 113 of the CPC had a wide application and included any statement coupled with a conduct made by an accused person.
Tun Abdul Majid replied that the statement accompanying the act must be admitted under section 8, otherwise the conduct would not have any meaning at all.
He said section 8 should be treated as an exception, otherwise it would not have been worded in such manner.
"The Parliament does not enact a law in vain. The Evidence Act has so many provisions that can either be read together or alone," he said. The hearing continues on Wednesday.
