Six police reports lodged over alleged witness tampering

 

Lawyers representing five students charged with insulting the late Zara Qairina Mahathir were seen talking outside the court building. NSTP/ERSIE ANJUMIN

KOTA KINABALU: The parents of five teenagers who are currently on trial for allegedly insulting Zara Qairina Mahathir have lodged police reports over alleged witness tampering by the prosecution team.

In addition to the five, the mother of a student who is a witness in the same trial has also filed a police report, bringing the total number of reports to six.

The trial began on Dec 8 and was due to continue until tomorrow. However, it is learnt that the trial will now resume on Jan 19 next year.

Lawyer Datuk Ram Singh, who represents one of the five students, said the police report was lodged yesterday.

"Statements are recorded, the investigation is ongoing, so I suppose it will continue next year pending investigation. We don't know the outcome yet, but this involves certain characters in the proceedings.

"Of course, this was revealed through certain questions, and as far as we are trying, we are not revealing other things, okay. We are bound by the gag order, but certain important details are important for the press and the public to know the latest developments," he said at a press conference today.

Ram also expressed his disappointment over the matter.

"We are very disappointed. We thought we were going to have a smooth sailing proceeding, but somehow some technical interference happened," he said.

Lawyer Joan Goh added that after what happened and based on the police reports made, they have also received instructions to file contempt proceedings against the relevant parties in due course.

"So, we will be proceeding with that very soon," she said.

Meanwhile, lawyer Azhier Farhan Arisin, who represents the four teenagers, also confirmed the matter and called for a transparent police investigation into the allegations of witness tampering by the prosecution team.

He said the police report filed by the witness's mother stated that the witness had been allegedly pressured to change her statement in court and was also allegedly prevented from speaking the truth.

"At this time, I will not go into details of the proceedings that took place in the Court For Children out of respect for the gag order.

"However, what I can say is that, up to this point, we will give our full cooperation. That's all I can say. The case is still in the hands of the police. We will hand it over to the police," he said.

Azhier added that his clients would also be filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) regarding violations of the their rights, as the right to a fair hearing in the Court For Children appears to have been compromised.

The five teenagers are accused of using insulting words against Zara, 13, on the night of July 15, allegedly causing her distress.

They pleaded not guilty to the charge on Aug 20, and the case is currently scheduled for trial from Dec 8 to 19.

Ram and Goh were together with Prem Elmer Ganasan in representing one of the accused, while Azhier was with Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah, Fareez Salleh and Sylyester Kuan. - NST