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Sunday, October 12, 2014

ALTANTUYA: Senior lawyer, Americk, Deepak in line to testify at Cecil Abraham’s misconduct trial

ALTANTUYA: Senior lawyer, Americk, Deepak in line to testify at Cecil Abraham’s misconduct trial
A prominent lawyer is expected to take the stand in the on-going disciplinary proceedings against corporate lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham for professional misconduct after the latter had allegedly prepared a contentious sworn statement related to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
A source told The Malaysian Insider the lawyer who specialises in civil cases was among five witnesses summoned to testify in the proceedings which came about following a complaint by the Bar Council against Abraham for alleged unauthorised preparation of a statutory declaration (SD) for private investigator, the late P. Balasubramaniam.
It is learnt that the lawyer who is expected to take the stand today is a key witness in connection with the controversial SD.
"We cannot reveal beyond this as lawyers for Abraham are protesting that insiders have been leaking details of the proceedings to the media," the source told The Malaysian Insider, adding that lawyers for Abraham complained that such disclosure was tantamount to trial by media.
The late P. Balasubramaniam had made a contentious statutory declaration which was apparently prepared by corporate lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham.
In March, Bar Council chairman Christopher Leong was the first to take the stand. Proceedings were then stood down for seven months after the Bar Council lawyer, Lambert Rasaratnam, recused himself as he was not comfortable to lead evidence and cross-examine Abraham.
Another senior lawyer Datuk Bastian Pius Vendargon was appointed to replace Rasaratnam.
Proceedings which were fixed on August 23 could not go on as a member of the three-man Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board (ASDB) committee could not make it.
The crux of the complaint is that Abraham is said to have prepared the contents of the SD when it was public knowledge that Balasubramaniam's lawyer at that time was Americk Singh Sidhu.
The contentious sworn statement was to counter Balasubramaniam's first sworn statement, which had incriminated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and several other personalities in relation to the 2006 murder of Altantuya.
The ASDB decided to hold the proceedings after finding there was a prima facie case against the lawyer for professional misconduct.
The committee, comprising two lawyers and a layman, is looking into the allegations of misconduct under Section 94 of the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976 for "conduct or omission to act by a lawyer in a professional capacity which amounts to grave impropriety".
The ASDB, which is a body independent of the Bar Council, is statutorily tasked to investigate professional misconduct.
Americk is also listed as a witness but it is unsure whether he will testify today. Sources said this depended on how long the senior lawyer will be on the stand.
Also believed to be on the list of witnesses is carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan who had earlier admitted that he had helped to get Balasubramaniam to repudiate his first SD by finding two lawyers to draft the new statement.
Americk had thrown light on the contentious SD when he read out a prepared statement at the Malaysian Bar's annual general meeting (AGM) last year where he had said: "Tan Sri Cecil Abraham admitted to me that he was the one who drafted the second statutory declaration".
Americk later told reporters on the sidelines of the AGM that the directive to Abraham came from Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister.
"I'm not interested in lodging a complaint with the board. That is not my agenda. My agenda is just to find out who instructed him to do it," he had said.
Leong, also on the sidelines of the AGM, had suggested that the Attorney-General’s Chambers relook Altantuya’s case based on evidence from Americk’s revelation, as well as Deepak’s admittance of involvement in the case.
“Much has been said about the obvious lack of motive for the two police officers to commit the crime. That remains the unanswered question,” Leong had said.
Two police commandos were charged with Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder but their convictions were subsequently overturned. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 11, 2014.
Two former police commandos – Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri – who were charged with Altantuya's murder, were found guilty and sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court.
Their convictions, however, were overturned by the Court of Appeal last year.
The Federal Court had heard Putrajaya's appeal and the final verdict is expected before the end of the year.
Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged with abetting them, was acquitted without his defence being called in 2008.
Balasubramaniam, also known as "PI Bala", had accused several top federal government personalities of being involved in Altantuya's murder in his first SD in 2008 – two years after she was murdered.
But he retracted the SD the following day and signed a new one, where the names of the personalities, including Najib's, were omitted.
Balasubramaniam died of a heart attack on March 15 last year, weeks after returning to Malaysia from self-exile abroad.
Lawyers familiar with disciplinary proceedings said the committee would make its findings and recommendations to the board, including the punishment to be meted out for misconduct.
Under the LPA, a lawyer found guilty of misconduct could be reprimanded, fined, suspended from practice for up to five years, or struck off the roll. –TMI

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