Bala’s widow gets ultimatum from her lawyer

(The Star) – The lawyer for private investigator P. Balasubramaniam’s widow has given her 48 hours to retract her statements discrediting him and give a public apology.

Lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu said that if A. Santamil Selvi fails to do so, he will be no longer be able to act as her counsel.

“Selvi has put me in a very embarrassing position because I am her counsel in current proceedings in the Court of Appeal, High Court and Federal Court,” he told The Star Online on Wednesday.

“This puts me in a difficult position if I have to appear for her in court when she has told the public that I am not ‘a very nice person’,” he said.

“The statements (released by Selvi) are completely untrue, baseless and false. And because she has issued a press statement to that effect, it has compromised my position as her solicitor and counsel,” he said.

In the press release provided during a press conference on Saturday, Selvi said she had received calls from Americk, Kapar MP G. Manivannan and Subang MP R. Sivarasa promising to help her if she agreed to be interviewed by Australian reporters for a documentary.

The statement said she had been told by the three to exaggerate facts regarding the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. It also contained “advice” not to trust the three individuals.

“I have asked that she publicly retract those false statements within 48 hours. And if she doesn’t do that, I have no alternative but to discharge myself because obviously, there is a conflict between me and my client,” Americk said.

Americk has been representing Selvi for the past 21 months.

During Saturday’s press conference organised by pro-government non-governmental organisation Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin Malaysia headed by Datuk Ramesh Rao, Selvi apologised to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for accusing her of murdering Balasubramaniam, a private investigator during the time the Mongolian interpreter was murdered.

Selvi said the press conference was called so that she could obtain funds for her children’s education.

Minor chaos ensued when Selvi was probed with further questions by journalists, resulting in her walking out of the press conference and returning later to finish reading her statement.

A donation drive is being carried out by PSMP to collect funds from its supporters and the public, and the NGO said it is confident of collecting between RM50,000 and RM60,000 for Selvi by the coming week.

Selvi had also criticised PKR for allegedly failing to deliver on a promise to provide her family with financial assistance.