Rosli Dahlan Defamation Suit: What’s Up, Judge?

A Wicked Twist in the Rosli Dahlan Defamation Suit: What’s Up, Judge?

by Hafiz Yatim(12-29-12)@http://www.malaysiakini.com

In a wicked twist, the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday refused to grant Rosli Dahlan time to file an affidavit in reply to the Attorney-General’s application to remove certain paragraphs in the lawyer’s witness statement regarding the ‘Copgate’ affair.

The senior federal counsel in the case had only affirmed an affidavit submitted on Thursday to oppose Rosli’s witness statement and open testimony in court. What was peculiar in the Senior Federal Counsel Azizan Md Arshad’s application was that he had deposed it himself, whereas it is usual practice for the affirmation to be done by another senior officer.

In the affidavit, the A-G’s Chambers reproduced all of Rosli’s statements which it opposed, making them public.

Despite this, Justice Hue Siew Kheng refused to grant Rosli (right) time to submit his affidavit-in-reply to Azizan’s application, ordering the parties to submit yesterday afternoon in her chambers.

Justice Hue then fixed Wednesday (Janaury 3, 2013) for a decision on the A-G’s Chamber’s objection to expunge certain paragraphs.

On Nov 28 it was reported that the A-G’s Chambers, representing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s predecessor the Anti-Corruption Agency and the government, had opposed Rosli’s application to read out his witness statement and also wanted expunged certain portions of it related to *Copgate and other matters.

The Copgate affair involved former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Musa Hassan and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail alleged to be the hidden hands in providing protection to an underworld figure named Goh Cheng Poh, also known as Tengku Goh.

At the previous session, Justice Hue had allowed Rosli to read out his witness statement in open court, which had been fixed for Jan 25 during the hearing of the RM50 million suit.

‘Goh’s arrest viewed as disloyal act’

Rosli, in his writ filed in 2009, had described the acrimonious relationship between former Commercial Crime Investigation Department Director Ramli Yusuff and Musa, (left) and how the IGP had used the ACA and the A-G’s Chambers to implicate him and Ramli in the wake of Goh’s arrest.

Rosli said he acted for Ramli and the then-Deputy Home Minister Johari Baharom against Goh’s habeas corpus application in 2007, after the A-G’s Chambers reneged on drawing up their affidavits.

The lawyer claimed that Musa saw Goh’s arrest as an act of disloyalty on Ramli’s part, resulting in the IGP initiating further ACA investigations against him, thus straining the Musa, Ramli and Johari relationship. Rosli also claimed that he earned Musa’s wrath and that of the attorney-general’s when he drew up the affidavits for Ramli and Johari, triggering the ACA probe against him and his subsequent arrest.

He said an ACA officer kicked his leg, twisted his arms and handcuffed him tightly, resulting in lacerations and swelling of his wrists. He gave his statement at the ACA headquarters, but was held overnight and taken to court and charged on the eve of Hari Raya, on October 27, 2007. These were malicious actions out to tarnish his image, he added in his writ.

However, the KL Sessions Court had acquitted Rosli without calling for his defence, on the charge of not complying with the agency’s procedures to declare his assets.The prosecution had withdrawn its appeal against the acquittal earlier this year.