ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin denied in court today, the allegations that he had tried to set Sirul Azhar Umar up and had promised to free him if he disclosed where murder Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu's jewellery had been kept.
He also maintained his previous testimony that Sirul had voluntarily given information and disclosed to him where the accused kept the jewellery in his house in Kota Damansara.
The 34-year-old officer attached to the Serious Crime Division of the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters’ Criminal Investigation Department, said he did not threaten or persuade Sirul and did not rise from his seat and bang on the desk when Sirul kept replying “don’t know” when interrogated at his office on November 7 last year.
Zulkarnain also denied telling Sirul “you should speak the truth, what you know, tell. I know you are a member (of the force) also. So in this matter, we will try to help you, you say it”.
ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (above) denied allegations that he had tried to set Sirul Azhar Umar up and had promised to free him if he disclosed where murder Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu's jewellery had been kept.
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He also denied raising his voice when saying to Sirul “don’t make me treat you like other accused”.
During examination by Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, Zulkarnain said, "I did not tell Sirul the matter would not be taken to court and he would be freed if he showed and identified the jewellery so that a photographer could take pictures."
Zulkarnain's second testimony in Mongolian beauty Altantuya's murder trial was made in the trial-within-a trial to determine the admissability of Sirul’s remarks to Zulkarnain that he could show where Altantuya’s jewellery was kept in his house, in the trial proper.
Zulkarnain was re-produced in court to disprove Sirul’s allegation that Zulkarnain and other police personnel had entered the accused’s bedroom without his absence and put a pair of earrings, a wristwatch and a ring in his jacket kept in a cupboard in the bedroom.
In previous proceedings, Sirul had told the court that Zulkarnain and several UTK officers were in his bedroom for 10 minutes and the door was closed while he, handcuffed, and a member of the Serious Crime Division, Cpl Chiam Swee Guan, were instructed to sit at the dining table in his house.
Sirul said that Zulkarnain later ordered him to stand next to the cupboard in the bedroom and hold the jacket and after that, point at the jewellery that was placed on the jacket laid on the bed for a photographer to take pictures.
Zulkarnain denied all of Sirul's allegations.
He also denied a photograph showing Sirul holding his jacket and another photograph of Sirul pointing at the jewellery taken by a police photographer were re-enactments.
According to Zulkarnain, besides the jewellery found in the bedroom, he did not make any other inspections that day, nor did he order his officers to further inspection, even though he felt that it was necessary.
Zulkarnain also denied hiding information to protect his earlier testimony relating to Sirul’s disclosure as to where the jewellery was kept.
Zulkarnain also disputed that his failure to draw the court’s attention on amendments to the police report he made concerning the discovery of the jewellery was to protect his previous testimony, saying that he only wanted to add two or three words and correct mistakes in the report like his father’s name and to add the name of the suspect whom he interrogated.
Zulkarnain said, "The changes, in my opinion, do not alter the meanings of words which can lead to hiding something."
He adds that although he did not draw the court’s attention to the amendments, he had informed the matter to investigating officer ASP Tonny a/l Lunggan.
Zulkarnain however admitted that he did not show the police report to Sirul for the accused to confirm that the words written in the police report were uttered by him when he showed the jewellery to the police, under examination by Sirul’s lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin.
When asked by Tun Abdul Majid later, Zulkarnain said it was not neccesary for him to show the police report to Sirul and Sirul’s remarks were of a suspect and not a witness.
Cpl Sirul, 36, and C/Insp Azilah Hadri, 31, of the Special Action Squad (UTK), are alleged to have committed the murder in Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, in October last year while political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting the policemen.
If convicted they are facing the death penalty.
The trial before High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues on Sept 17.
