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• Razak's action 'reasonable'

©Bernama (Used by permission)

SHAH ALAM, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Lawyer Wong Kian Kheong who represented Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda said Thursday that his client was not a liar and did not know anything about the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.

In his rebuttal to the prosecution's submission here, he said the statements by private detective P. Balasubramaniam on Razak's reaction when asked about Altantuya's murder often changed and were inconsistent.

In previous proceedings, Balasubramaniam who was hired by Razak testified that his employer only smiled when asked about Altantuya and said that he did not know what was happening.

The prosecution, however, argued that Razak had lied and that it was impossible for him not knowing anything that happened to the person arrested in front of his house.

Wong said Razak also did not know about the US$500,000 demand by Altantuya because the discussion about it only involved Balasubramaniam and Altantuya personally.

He said the prosecution did not have any evidence to show that Razak had lied and based of his client's affidavit, he had asked superior police officer DSP Musa Safri about what had happened to Altantuya and sent a text message to Balasubramaniam because he was worried Altantuya would harass him again although when the text massage was sent, the woman had already been murdered.

"The prosecution did not adduce any evidence to show that Abdul Razak had actual knowledge of what had in fact happened to the deceased. In the absence of such evidence, how could Abdul Razak be alleged to have lied in respect of where was the deceased," he said.

Wong also argued that telephone call and text message records could not prove prima facie case on the charge of abetment laid against Razak.

He said Razak's Maxis telephone bills did not show any outgoing calls and text messages from his client's two telephones to Altantuya.

He also submitted that the court, in making its decision, should take into account the calls and text messages made by Musa to his client and not merely rely on the telephone transaction records of C/Insp Azilah Hadri, Razak, Balasubramaniam and Altantuya only.

Moreover, the prosecution had actually failed to adduce strong evidence to convict his client, he said.

Razak, 48, a political analysis, was charged with abetting Azilah, 32, and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 36, in murdering Altantuya, 28.

The murder allegedly occurred between Lot 12843 and Lot 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the following day.

The hearing before High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues on Monday.

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