MACC witnesses: ‘We didn’t care!’
Two senior officers involved in lawyer Rosli Dahlan’s arrest also admit their testimony was inconsistent with their own documents
(Free Malaysia Today) – Lawyer Rosli Dahlan’s suit against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today saw two senior MACC officers involved in his arrest brazenly admit they were not bothered to ensure that he was accorded his rights. They also appeared to take issue with their own documents.
Taking the stand first, MACC’s Director of Intelligence, Azam Baki admitted involvement in Rosli’s arrest but denied that the arrest took the form of an operation codenamed ‘Operasi Tangkap Rosli.’
He also denied being involved in investigations into the case, which he said had been handled by another unit.
He admitted, however, that his deputy Sok One a/l Esen had been involved in CCID investigations into the activities of Goh Cheng Poh @Tengku Goh, who former CCID Director Ramli Yusuff claimed had links to former Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan.
At one point in the course of intense cross-examination, Rosli’s lawyer, Chetan Jethwani suggested that Azam’s evidence was inconsistent with his own statement of defence.
Azam answered, “Yes, true”.
When asked why as the superior officer, he did not care to check on Rosli’s complaint that he had been injured in the course of the arrest, Azam merely replied, “I didn’t care!”
“You didn’t care what happened to Rosli after you arrested him?” Chetan asked.
“I didn’t care,” came the reply. “All that I cared about was that I carried out my task, which was to arrest him.”
Azam also said that he did not know what happened to Rosli after the arrest, insisting that his task had been completed once the arrest had been made.
To a question by presiding Judge Su Geok Yiam whether he had kept any record of the events which had taken place, Azam replied that he did not, despite admitting that there were standing orders requiring him to do so.
The afternoon session saw Azam’s deputy, Sok One a/l Esen, testifying.
Sok One admitted that Azam and he knew that Rosli had agreed to come to the ACA headquarters after Hari Raya but said that their instructions were to arrest Rosli that very day itself and to charge him the following day.
He could not, however, tell the court the reason for the urgency.
As regards Rosli’s arrest, Sok One admitted that he knew Rosli’s hands had been injured in the course of the arrest but said that he did not instruct for any medical treatment because Rosli had not requested for it.
This led Chetan to point out that under ACA’s standing orders it was mandatory for Sok One to offer medical treatment and allow Rosli to lodge a report on his injuries.
Sok One merely responded, “I didn’t know.”
Asked why he did not offer bail to Rosli, Sok One answered, “I didn’t care. It was not within my jurisdiction.”
“So, you didn’t care what happened after that,” Chetan asked.
“I didn’t care,” came the reply.
