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Information given by detainees ruled admissible

Wednesday, 14 September 2011 12:39pm

©The New Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Rita Jong

SHAH ALAM: The High Court yesterday ruled that information provided by two detainees, which led to the discovery of evidence during the Banting murder investigations, was admissible in court.

High Court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir said there was no evidence to suggest that the detainees -- T. Thilaiyalagan and R. Kathavarayan -- were forced to divulge the information.

He came to this decision following a trial-within-a-trial (TWT), which came about after Thilaiyalagan and Kathavarayan alleged that their statements were given under "oppression".

"What is oppression? To me it is not just mere hardship. It is more than that," said the judge.

"Both accused alleged they were not given meals regularly. Their counsel also alleged that lock-up rules were flouted. I chose to believe the witnesses who said the detainees were given regular meals.

"As for the lock-up rules, they are just guidelines and law. This is not a 9-to-5 job. Besides, the people who were really working were the police, not the accused.

"They should not expect a hot water bath during detention.

"The police were the ones conducting the search and if anyone were to complain of lack of rest, it should be the police," Akhtar said.

The judge also said Thilaiyalagan and Kathavarayan had alleged police had beaten them and pointed a gun at them.

"Testimonies of witnesses in the TWT showed the accused had complained about the alleged abuses to a doctor and a magistrate during the remand process.

"But the complaints were made a month later. I do not see any link," he said.

Akhtar, however, agreed with counsel Manjeet Singh Dhillon that no police officer would come to court and admit to beating detainees.

He said it was difficult for him to decide on this matter based just on demeanour.

"But drawing from inferences, I do not see any reason why police would do it. So I believe that there was no such physical abuse," he said.

Akhtar also said that even if there was oppression, it was probably a confession to the murders, not to the discovery of evidence.

Nineteen witnesses testified in the TWT.

Thilaiyalagan, 20, Kathavarayan, 31, R. Matan, 21, and lawyer N. Pathmanabhan, 42, are charged with the murders of Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, 47, driver Kamaruddin Shansuddin, 44, CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, and lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, at a farm in Tanjung Sepat, Banting between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30 last year.

Meanwhile, two witnesses from the telecommunications company, Celcom Axiata Bhd, later testified that they printed details of phone users in relation to the murders after receiving a request by investigating officer Assistant Superintendent Ishak Yaakob in September last year.

Norazlina Ahmad, 30, a senior liaison executive in the fraud, prevention and investigations department, said she made printouts of customers' details and provided itemised bills for 10 handphone numbers to the police.

The other witness, Abdul Latif Mohamed, 44, general manager of Celcom's billing division, also testified that he extracted call detail records of several of the phone numbers.

Hearing continues tomorrow.

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