97. Sabah RCI to rule on bid for witness statements at next hearing

Sabah RCI to rule on bid for witness statements at next hearing

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sabah-rci-to-rule-on-bid-for-witness-statements-at-next-hearing/

March 18, 2013

KOTA KINABALU, March 18 — The five-man panel of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah will deliver its decision at its next sitting, on whether to grant the Sabah Law Association (SLA)’s application for access to the written witness statements from the police, related to the ongoing RCI hearing.
RCA chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong said this after hearing submissions from both SLA counsel led by Alex Decena, and conducting officer Manoj Kurup.
It is understood the date of the sitting has been fixed on April 15.
The other members of the panel are former Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah state secretary Datuk Kee Mustafa, and former Sabah deputy chief minister and state attorney-general Tan Sri Herman J. Luping.
“We (members of the RCI) are guided by case law and authorities...we need sometimes, to make a decision and we will deliver our decision in our next sitting,” said Shim, a former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, before winding up a short proceeding of the RCI hearing at the high court here today.
Earlier, Decena cited authorities and case law to back up SLA’s argument, stressing that the witness statements were vital for the association to lend a hand to the commission to establish the facts on the matter in question — the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
“That’s why, SLA applies for access to the witness statements to the police under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he said, adding, “the SLA is offering at least four witnesess to be called for the RCI hearing. In rebuttal, Kurup asserted that based on case law and recent decisions of the courts (related to witness statements), SLA was not entitled to have access to the witness statements.”
 However, he said his team was willing to cooperate with the SLA on matters of mutual interest concerning witnesses in the next hearing. — Bernama