Hare Krishnan not at police HQ when Dharmendran died

Witness says police inspector’s movements were traced using telephone number mapping, as provided by the service provider.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here was today told that Serious Crimes Branch (D9) Operations Officer Inspector S Hare Krishnan, who is charged with murdering N Dharmendran in a police lock-up, was not at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters on May 21, 2013.

Kuala Lumpur police staff officer (Investigation/Planning) (D8) ASP Koh Fei Chow, 47, said this was based on Hare Krishnan’s telephone number mapping, as provided by the service provider.

“In the morning, it was detected near the headquarters.

“After that, the location was mostly in the Cheras area and only in the evening, it was near the headquarters.”

He said this during examination-in-chief by lawyer M Athimulan, representing Hare Krishnan, in the defence proceedings before Judge Kamardin Hashim.

Koh said he, however, could not remember the actual time when Hare Krishnan was at the headquarters.

Athimulan: If I put it to you that in the evening it was about 5 pm. (Do you) agree?

Koh: Yes, approximately.

Athimulan: The one in the morning was about 11 am?

Koh: My Lord, I cannot remember exactly the time, but it was in the morning.

Hare Krishnan, 43; Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 46; Corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 47, and Corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 34, are charged with murdering Dharmendran, 32, in the D9 interrogation room on the 7th floor of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent headquarters in Jalan Hang Tuah between May 18 and 21, 2013.

(Dharmendran, who was detained for attempted murder, complained of chest pains and collapsed at 4.25pm on May 21, 2013 while in the police lock up.)

The policemen are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code and face the death sentence upon conviction.
On Dec 2, 2014, Kamardin acquitted all four of them of the murder charge at the end of the prosecution case, without calling for their defence.

However, on Feb 26 this year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s acquittal and ordered the four policemen to enter their defence.

On April 28 this year, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), set up to investigate Dharmendran’s death, found that the detainee’s death was due to the use of physical force by the police.

The hearing continues tomorrow.
– BERNAMA

Mahathir never interfered in my work, says ex-IGP

Former inspector-general of police Rahim Noor has claimed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad never interfered in his work, despite allegations of the former premier having a tight control on key agencies and institutions during his tenure.

According to Rahim, he felt comfortable working with Mahathir because the latter was a professional.

“For 10 years that I was director of the Special Branch and IGP, I always felt at ease.

“There was no interference or disruptions, Mahathir understood that what I was doing was for the country and security (purposes),” he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.

Rahim said this included the infamous Operasi Lalang as well, which saw scores of opposition leaders and activists detained under the now defunct Internal Security Act.

In early 2014, Mahathir had denied that he was the home minister at the time, adding that he was also abroad during the 1987 crackdown.

Following this, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who was among those arrested, accused the former premier of suffering from “selective amnesia” and attempting to disavow his role in the incident.

Mahathir later admitted responsibility, although he denied masterminding the arrests, which critics claimed was an abuse of power to silence dissent.

“Even if the decision was made by somebody else, it is in the cabinet and I accept responsibility. What we did was to ensure stability and peace in this country,” he had said.

Mahathir and Lim have since buried the hatchet and joined hands in the Citizens’ Declaration against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Meanwhile, Rahim, who was appointed police chief in 1994, was forced to resign five years later after being found guilty of assaulting ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in custody.

When Anwar appeared in court with a black eye then, Mahathir, who sacked him in 1998, had speculated that the injury could have been self-inflicted to gain public sympathy.

“It's not impossible because he will get plenty of mileage if he showed he was abused by police,” he had said.

Other panellists at the forum titled ‘Siapa lebih berkuasa: Pentadbir atau ahli politik? (Who is more powerful: administrators or politicians?’) included former Dewan Rakyat speaker Adam Kadir and former Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman.

Former top cop lodges second police report against AG

Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim has lodged a second police report against attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, alleging Apandi gave false evidence in clearing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The police report was lodged last Friday, and it comes after Apandi, the highest legal officer in the country, having not shown any evidence, such as bank statements, to prove the claim that the money came from a Saudi Arabia prince and that US$620 million, and not US$650 million, had been returned to the prince by Najib.

Mat Zain said there were conflicting or confusing material facts if one were to compare the flowchart of the transactions and the statement of the transactions obtained and reproduced by international and local media, such as The Wall Street Journal, together with Apandi's statement.

He gave an example of where the flowchart specifically showed the transfer of US$681 million from Tanore Finance Corp, through Falcon Private Bank, Singapore branch, to Najib's private account, that was made between March 21, 2013, and March 25, 2013.

However, Mat Zain in his police report, said Apandi at the press conference in clearing Najib, had said the deposits took place between March 22, 2013, and April 10, 2013, with these dates being different from the flowchart

“The detailed and accurate transaction of the sender, the bank that sent the funds, the recipient, amount and date as well as time of the deposit and withdrawal, can be seen through the bank statements. The AG has the right and power to check on the statements.”

“The flowchart shows the transfer back of US$650 million on Aug 30, 2013, from Najib's personal account to the original sender through Falcon Private Bank, Singapore branch, which is owned by Tanore Finance Corporation. On that same day, Najib closed his AmPrivate Banking account,” Mat Zain said.

“However, Apandi's press statement said a fund of US$620 million was transferred. There is a difference of US$30 million, or roughly, close to RM100 million. The chart shows US$650 million returned to Tanore Finance Corporation but Apandi said it was US$620 million, without specifically saying how it was returned,” the former top investigator said.

A high-profile investigator

Mat Zain, well known for being the investigating officer of the black-eye incident on Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, and other high profile financial cases, further said there were also questions as to whether Najib obtained Bank Negara's approval to transfer the huge sums of money outside the country.

Last Friday, Special Affairs Department director-general Puad Zarkashi claimed that Najib had obtained Bank Negara approval to bring in the US$681 million, which has introduced another version to the RM2.6 billion saga.

Mat Zain said Apandi verified that the donor was an Arab prince, who is the son of a Saudi king, and not the Saudi Arabian king or the Saudi government.

In his last police report against Apandi last March, Mat Zain debunked the AG's claim that a Saudi prince was the donor, as only four Saudi Arabian princes have made the Forbes 2013 rich Arabs list - Prince Alwaleed Talal who then had a reported fortune of US$20 billion; Prince Sultan Mohammed with US$2.6 billion; Prince Abdullah Musaad with US$144.5 million; and Prince Mutaib Abdulaziz with US$110.1 million.

Of the four, only Prince Mutaib is the son of a king, but his US$110.1 million net worth is far less than the US$681 million donated to Najib.

Pulau Batu Puteh analogy

Using the Pulau Batu Puteh case as an analogy, where Singapore in November 2007 proved to the International Court of Justice that the Malaysian team used a doctored picture from a blog to show the disputed island's proximity to Johor, Mat Zain said the same thing could have been done here.

He said Apandi should come out with an in-and-out flowchart on the US$681 million, which must be verified by AmPrivate Banking as well, to correctly show that the fund came from the Arab prince.

“Apandi's inability to submit such documents has resulted in public suspicion over the credibility and transparency of his statement. It further strengthens the trust in the chart coming out from WSJ, which other news portals have also carried.

“Based on the above, it shows that the flowchart produced by WSJ is more credible, if compared with Apandi's statement. If the chart is false or confusing, the Money Authority of Singapore would have taken action on WSJ or other parties that are named, so as to safeguard the credibility of its financial institutions,” Mat Zain said in his police report.

This was more so, the former top cop said, because the transfer of US$681 million and the remittance of US$650 million were done through Falcon Private Bank, Singapore.

Based on this information, and read together with his previous report, Mat Zain says there are grounds for a detailed investigation to be made against Apandi for falsifying evidence with his statement on the RM2.6 billion alleged donation.

“The investigations can be done under Section 193 of the Penal Code, as was with his previous report,” he told Malaysiakini when met recently.

Mat Zain also pointed out that the Pulau Batu Puteh doctored photograph was revealed when then prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was in Singapore, attending the Asean-European Union meeting. No response was given to this.

The ICJ delivered its decision on May 23, 2008 and the former top cop said that if Malaysia wanted to appeal, it still has two more years to do so.

Johor Sultan Ibrahim Mahmud Iskandar had on May 29, 2014, said the state wants the disputed island back and Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin said the state has set up a committee to study this.