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©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Rita Jong
SHAH ALAM: A defence lawyer tried to produce evidence to suggest that his client
Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri was at his office in Bukit Aman the night Altantuya
Shaariibuu was murdered.
The evidence was in the form of a station diary taken from
the Special Action Squad (UTK) control room in Bukit Aman.
Azilah's lawyer, J. Kuldeep Kumar, said the entries in the diary suggested that
Azilah was at Bukit Aman on the night of Oct 19, 2006.
He tried to produce this evidence through senior investigating officer ASP Tonny
Lunggan but this was objected to by DPP Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah, who said it
was hearsay.
Tun Abd Majid said: "It is improper to tender this exhibit through this witness
as he (Tonny) is not the maker or the keeper of the station diary.
"How can this piece of evidence be made admissible?"
Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin asked Kuldeep why he was referring the station
diary to Tonny.
Kuldeep said: "It is important that the station diary is made admissible as it
places Azilah at Bukit Aman between 10.18pm and 10.20pm and not at the crime
scene."
Tun Abd Majid, however, again reiterated that it was improper to tender this
exhibit through Tonny.
"If it is tendered through the maker of the entry or the officer-in-charge of
the station, then I am not objecting."
Counsel Datuk Hazman Ahmad, who is Kuldeep's co-counsel, then stood up and asked
that the witness supply the original copy of the diary.
"We obtained a copy of the diary extract from prosecution," said Hazman.
But when Mohd Zaki asked Tonny if this was the same copy from the station diary
he had seen during his investigations at the UTK control room, the witness said
he was not sure.
Mohd Zaki then asked both parties to argue on the admissibility of the exhibit
today.
"I am interested in what the DPP said, that such documents are only tendered
during the defence stages of a case.
"I have my reservations. This is not a civil case," he said.
Azilah, 31, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 36, both UTK members, are charged
with Altantuya's murder at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor between 10pm on Oct 19 and
1am on Oct 20, 2006.
Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting them.
Earlier, under cross-examination by Abdul Razak's counsel, Wong Kian Kheong, the
witness said he recorded Abdul Razak's cautioned statement on Oct 30, 2006 at
the Brickfields police district.
Wong: Based on the cautioned statement, do you agree that Azilah was introduced
to Abdul Razak by DSP Musa Safri?
Tonny: Yes.
Wong: Was DSP Musa's cautioned statement recorded?
Tonny: Yes, but by another officer.
When asked if he knew which room Altantuya and two others -- Burmaa Oyuchimeg
and Uuriintuya Gal-Orchir -- had stayed in at Hotel Malaya, Tonny said rooms 821
and 823.
However, based on the hotel's registration of guests for rooms 817 and 821, Wong
said the women had stayed in both these rooms and not 823.
"It was my mistake. Rooms 821 and 823 are next to each other. They initially
stayed in 817 but they changed rooms after that. They kept changing rooms,"
Tonny said when asked to explain.
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