Altantuya Murder Case 01/08/07

Prosecution Fails Again To Get Another Statement By Sirul Azhar

SHAH ALAM, August 1 (Bernama) -- The High Court here Wednesday ruled as inadmissible Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar's statement disclosing and act of pointing to the spot where Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu was blasted.
Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin in his oral judgment said he was not prepared to accept Sirul Azhar's statement as part of conduct under Section 8 of the Evidence Act 1950.
He said that in this case, the prosecution had submitted that the statement made by Sirul Azhar, the second accused in Altantuya's murder, was not a statement under Section 27 of the Evidence Act (a statement leading to discovery) as the police had already discovered the crime scene.
Mohd Zaki said that according to prosecution witness ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin, the statement was given by Sirul Azhar and was accompanied by his act of pointing to the crime scene.
"I find none in the illustration of Section 8 (2) of the Evidence Act to be an example of the category of conduct that fits with the circumstances in this case," the judge said.
Sirul Azhar, 36, and Chief Insp Azilah Hadri, 31, both members of the Special Action Squad, are charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting them.
The prosecution had sought to admit as evidence the statement in which Sirul Azhar was alleged to have told Zulkarnain: "I can tell you where the woman was blasted".
Zulkarnain had told the court that Sirul Azhar had gone with a police party to the crime scene in Puncak Alam and uttered those words.
Deputy public prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah had submitted that Sirul Azhar's statement followed by his act of pointing to the crime scene was a conduct and admissible as evidence under Section 8 of the Evidence Act.
Sirul Azhar's counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin argued that the statement and act of pointing was inadmissible under that section.
This is the second time the court has thrown out Sirul Azhar's statement. On July 26, Mohd Zaki expunged the evidence given by prosecution witness Chief Insp Kamaroszaman Othman who testified that during interrogation, Sirul Azhar had disclosed the crime scene to him.