A witness for the plaintiffs in the Apcet II hearing conceded in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that she had edited a video recording of the incident, but denied tampering with the footage.
The 12th witness, Anna Har, 39, (far left in photo) said this while being cross-examined by federal counsel Khairul Fazly Kamarudin who was attempting to challenge the integrity of the video recording.The 50-minute clip, showing how a 400-strong mob led by the Umno Youth had stormed into an international conference on East Timor in 1996, was re-screened in court today.
The government’s legal team tried to discredit the contents of the clip on grounds that it had been edited before being tendered in court.
Har - a television producer - explained that she had to edit the clip as it had been recorded with two video cameras. She was one of the videographers.
“I compiled (the two recordings) and edited it. There were two cameras, one inside (the conference hall) and one outside. My job (in the organising committee) was to take the first tape and second tape, compile them and edit them,” she told the court.To a question from Khairul Fazly, she denied the possibility that she had tampered with, removed or altered the content during the editing process.
However, he did not let up and continue to quiz Har on the chronological order of events as shown in the edited video clip.
Since the clip was recorded with two different cameras, Khairul Fazly asked Har how she could be sure of the sequence of events in the edited clip.
“It (the editing) was done simultaneously [...] I most probably have compiled it to the best of my knowledge and logical (sense),” she replied.
Khairy Fazly also questioned Har as to whether the tape containing her video recording would have been tampered with, as she had passed it to a foreign press journalist before she was held in the police lock-up for a night after the Apcet II incident.Har dismissed the suggestion. She said that, after her release, she had checked the tape and found that it was in the same condition.
The day-long hearing focused on clarifying technical questions over the video clip, including its transfer from the original tape format to the current VCD format.
This came after the government’s legal team challenged the admissibility of the recording at the start of the hearing. Among other aspects, it questioned the original source of the recording.
Justice Wan Adnan Muhamad, however, was of the view that the admissibility has no huge bearing in a civil case, as the credibility of the contents can be challenged through cross-examination and submissions.
In the afternoon, the plaintiffs’ 13th witness, Colin Nicholas, 53, was called to the stand over a set of photographs that he had taken during the conference.
Hearing continues tomorrow.
Out-of-court deal off
At the outset of today’s hearing, the government’s legal team also informed the court that it has rejected a formal offer from the plaintiffs for an out-of-court settlement. The sum was not disclosed.
The RM83 million Apcet II civil suit was filed by 36 local activists and journalists, seeking damages from the government over wrongful detention and police negligence.
On Nov 9, 1996, over 100 people - including 10 journalists - were arrested on the opening day of the Second Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II), held to discuss human rights abuses in East Timor and its struggle for independence from Indonesia.
Police then moved in to arrest the participants, claiming they had refused to disperse. The participants were detained between one and six days, while 40 foreign participants were deported.
A star witness testified previously that the Umno Youth-led mob was acting on the instructions of then deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob to stop the conference.
Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran and editor-in-chief Steven Gan, both journalists at TheSun then, are among the plaintiffs.
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