Altantuya Murder Case 03/07/07

Azilah Killed Altantuya, Says Razak Baginda's Secretary

SHAH ALAM, July 3 (Bernama) -- "Azilah from the Special Action Squad (UTK) was the man who killed Altantuya," announced the secretary of political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, shocking everyone in the High Court here today.
Siti Aisyah Mohd Azlan, 24, from Rawang, testified that this was told to her by her boss (Abdul Razak) at his office on Nov 7 last year, about two weeks after Mongolian interpreter and part-time model Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered at a location between Lot 12843 and Lot 16735, Mukim Bukit Raja, near here, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006.
Siti Aisyah, the 9th prosecution witness, said on that day (Nov 7), Abdul Razak had called her into his room and told her that something bad had befallen Altantuya.
DPP Tun Majid: What did he tell you?
Siti Aisyah: Razak said Amina (Altantuya) had died. I was shocked. He asked me whether I knew who did it. Then I asked him back who had done it. He said, `the UTK guy who came that day. His name is Azilah'.
Tun Majid: What else did he tell you?
Siti Aisyah: Razak said he was no ordinary policeman but a chief inspector. I then said that he (Azilah) should know not to do such a thing. Razak said Azilah seemed to be trying to accuse him of ordering him to kill Amina.
Siti Aisyah said Abdul Razak, the third accused, also told her that he did not ask Azilah to kill Altantuya, but had only asked the police officer to protect his home and family.
At this juncture, Azilah's counsel Hazman Ahmad stood up and objected to the witness' answer as her testimony, he said, was based on hearsay.
The objection was recorded by judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yassin, while two other counsels, Wong Kian Kheong and Kamarul Hisham Kamarudin, said they would address the matter after the witness finished testifying.
Throughout her testimony, Siti Aisyah was frequently reminded by Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah to speak loudly and clearly as her voice was too soft.
Judge Mohd Zaki added in jest: The DPP has told you many times to speak a little louder. Now I'm telling you to speak even louder like how I speak. My voice is clear, isn't it?
Earlier, Siti Aisyah had told the court about the visit by a man from the UTK to Abdul Razak' office on Oct 18, 2006 to see him.
"On that day, Abdul Razak had called the office to inform me that someone from the UTK would be coming to meet him," she said.
Siti Aisyah said after Abdul Razak arrived at the office, the UTK man mentioned by her boss came to the office about 9am.
Tun Majid: How did he come?
Siti Aisyah: When he came, I opened the door and asked him who he wanted to see. He asked whether it was Abdul Razak Baginda's office. I said yes. Then I asked who he was but he didn't introduce himself. But I thought he was the one who wanted to see Abdul Razak, so I let him in.
Tun Majid: After that?
Siti Aisyah: I asked him whether he was from UTK? He was surprised and asked me how I knew. I said Abdul Razak told me.
Siti Aisyah identified Azilah Hadri who was in the witness stand as the man from UTK and mentioned by her in her testimony.
She continued, saying that Azilah and Abdul Razak met in the meeting room of the office for about half an hour.
Siti Aisyah said she knew of the name, Azilah when Abdul Razak had called her into his room on Nov 7, 2006.
In the first 20 minutes of the hearing, the petite Siti Aisyah who was clad in a long-sleeved white shirt and grey pants, was questioned on Altantuya's appearance at Abdul Razak's office in August and October last year.
The witness who had worked with Abdul Razak for three years starting as a receptionist, said in August 2006, Altantuya who was also known as Amina, came alone to Abdul Razak's office at Bangunan Lembaga Getah Asli in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.
She said on that day she saw Abdul Razak talking to Altantuya for a few minutes at the front door of the office at Level 10 of the building.
"Abdul Razak then went back to his room while Altantuya waited outside for 10 to 15 minutes.
"Then Abdul Razak left the office with Altantuya following him into the lift."
Siti Aisyah said Altantuya came alone again to the office one morning during the fasting month last year.
"She was at the front door but I ignored her. I contacted Razak through the intercom but he told me not to let her in," she added.
Tun Majid: When you ignored her, what did she do?
Siti Aisyah: She asked for pen and paper. I saw her writing something on the paper and asked me to give it to Abdul Razak which I did.
Tun Majid: Did you read the note.
Siti Aisyah: The next day Abdul Razak placed it (note) in the file tray. I kept it in the folder.
The witness said the note was surrendered to the police on Nov 13, 2006.
She said Altantuya came again within the same week, and this time she was accompanied by two women.
Tun Majid: What did she do?
Siti Aisyah: One of the women, with long hair and big-sized, pressed the bell. I told Abdul Razak that Amina came. At that time he was having a discussion with a visitor. I gave him a note which I wrote, `Don't come out first. She's here.'
Tun Majid: In the note you did not mention Amina, but the third accused could understand that `she' was Amina?
Siti Aisyah: Yes.
She said Altantuya then gave her an envelope to be given to Abdul Razak.
A few days later, Altantuya came again to the office with a letter for Abdul Razak.
Tun Majid: The first time she came, she asked for pen and paper and gave a note. The second time, an envelope and the third time, a letter. Did you realise that a note was slipped through the door? Siti Aisyah: She slipped an envelope through the door when she came the second time.
In her testimony, Siti Aisyah said she knew the name, Amina before the Mongolian woman's first visit to Abdul Razak's office as she had called the office to speak to her boss.

Police Officer Promised To Free Her And Azilah, Says Witness

SHAH ALAM, July 3 (Bernama) -- The girlfriend of Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri told the High Court here Tuesday that before her cautioned statement was taken, a police officer from the Serious Crime Unit offered to free her and Azilah from the charge of murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Lance Corporal Rohaniza Roslan, 29, said the officer who took her cautioned statement also promised to shorten her remand period.
She said because of the promises, she agreed with whatever was stated in the cautioned statement made under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code on Nov 16, 2006.
However, Rohaniza could not remember the name of the officer but said the same promises were made to her by a number of officers from the Technical Assistance Unit while she was in remand for 14 days.
Rohaniza, the prosecution's 7th witness, was testifying in the murder trial during cross-examination by Hazman Ahmad, counsel for Azilah. The trial entered its 12th day today.
The cross-examination was made after judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yassin allowed all parties to question Rohaniza over five discrepancies between her testimony yesterday and her cautioned statement.
Hazman: Were you promised anything if you testified?
Rohaniza: He said that not only that I would be freed, but Azilah too.
Hazman: Who was he?
Rohaniza: One of the officers who recorded the statement. Officer D6, D9. Can't remember the name.
Hazman: Do you agree that after too much being recorded, you were confused.
Rohaniza: Agree.
She also claimed that she was threatened, verbally abused and pressured by many police personnel while being in remand from Nov 1 to 14, 2006 and the situation made her confused over her involvement in the case.
Questions and facts recorded were also different?
Rohaniza: Agree.
Hazaman: Did the recording officers write differently for one cautioned statement or for all?
Rohaniza: All.
Rohaniza told the court that the discrepancies in the statements arose as she felt frustrated and pressured because of the "torture".
Asked how she felt as a police personnel she was placed with other detainees while in remand, Rohaniza said: "I felt ashamed and distressed. Before that, I had been watching over them, but suddenly I was detained in the lock-up."
She also claimed that the recording officers did not record what she said (pertaining to the case) but otherwise in all her cautioned statements.
She said two days before she gave her statement to Chief Inspector Saheela Abu Bakar at Bukit Aman, she was placed in a hotel and guarded to prevent her from leaving the hotel.
She added that she was also not allowed to contact anyone except her housemate and was not told why she was brought to the hotel.
"I was under duress. I did not feel free although my remand period had ended. I was anxiously wondering whether I would be charged," she said.
Rohaniza who has served nine years in the police force, said she did not know who ordered that she be confined, but she was brought there by DSP Gan Tack Guan, ASP Tonny Lunggan and constable Maz.
Questioned by Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, counsel for Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, whether she could concentrate when giving her cautioned statement, Rohaniza said she could not.

Altantuya murder trial: Prosecution outlines contradictions

The prosecution in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial on Tuesday outlined five contradictions between L/Kpl Rohaniza Roslan's testimony in court and her statement to police last year.
Rohaniza claimed she was under a lot of pressure when she gave her statement.
She said after her 14-day remand, she was isolated in a hotel room overnight before her statement was recorded.

I Was Confined, Threatened And Tortured By Cops - Rohaniza

SHAH ALAM, July 3 (Bernama) -- Lance Corporal Rohaniza Roslan told the murder trial of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu that she was confined, threatened and tortured by police before recording her cautioned statement at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
Rohaniza, 29, the girlfriend of Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, the first accused in the widely-followed murder trial, said this when asked by the court to clarify on the five material contradictions in her testimony during examination-in-chief yesterday from her cautioned statement given to police on Nov 16 last year.
Rohaniza, the seventh prosecution witness, said her cautioned statement to the police was not true as it was made under duress.
She also claimed the police had recorded her statement on matters which she did not mentioned.
Rohaniza, who is attached to the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters, was testifying on the 12th day of the high-profile murder trial.
Earlier, Rohaniza testified that one week before the trial began she received a phone call from a mysterious caller threatening to shoot her if she becomes a witness in the trial.
Rohaniza said the threat came from a Malay man on June 11.
However, she could not recognise the caller's voice and his telephone number registered on the screen of her handphone.
"The caller said don't be a witness or you'll be shot," said Rohaniza.
Following the life-threatening call and worried over her safety, Rohaniza said she lodged a police report on the same day.
Azilah, 30, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35, both from the police special action squad, are charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at lots between 12843 and 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja here between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 46, is charged with abetting the two.
The three face the death sentence if convicted.
In a surprise turn of events yesterday, the prosecution accused Rohaniza, who is its star witness in the trial, of lying in court.
Three hours into her testimony, DPP Noorin Badaruddin abruptly stopped her examination-in-chief and stunned the court when she told the judge that the prosecution intended to impeach Rohaniza's testimony.
DPP Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah, who is leading the prosecution team, informed Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin that the prosecution needed more time to study the witness' cautioned statement.
He sought the court's permission to adjourn the trial to today for them to complete the task.
The prosecution lodged a police report against her, alleging that she had committed perjury, an offence carrying a maximum 10 years' jail, upon conviction.
The report was lodged yesterday evening by ASP Tonny Lunggan, who is one of the investigating officers, at the Shah Alam district police headquarters.