KOTA KINABALU: The High Court yesterday stood down from hearing the Sulu gunmen’s terrorism trial in the prison compound in Kepayan after a police special branch officer broke down when giving his testimony.
The incident happened when Sergeant Major Mohd Zamari Hj Suhot recalled witnessing his superior officer being slashed several times by an attacker at Kampung Sri Jaya in Simunul, Semporna during an operation.
Justice Stephen Chung adjourned the trial for 10 minutes to allow the 47-year-old witness to compose himself after he became emotional when answering questions posed by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed.
The 35th prosecution witness came out of the hall at the Kepayan prisons compound, which is being used as an open court, wiping his tearful eyes with his hands.
The accused persons, who sat in the dock closely guarded by policemen, were seen observing the witness keenly and exchanging whispers among themselves.
When trial resumed at 4.43 pm, Mohd Zamari, who looked somewhat composed began answering further questions from Abdul Wahab.
Earlier, Mohd Zamari recalled seeing his team leader Superintendent Ibrahim Lebar, one of the six policemen who died during the operation to trace Imam Tua, slashed several times on his head with a sharp weapon.
“When I heard gunshots coming from a house said to be the house of Imam Tua, believed to be the right hand man of Raja Muda Datu Agbimuddin Kiram, I shouted ‘keep down’ twice and laid down on the bridge to take cover from the gunshots,” he recalled.
He recalled at the time that his superior officer and ASP Mohd Hasnal Jamil (the 33rd prosecution witness) had also taken cover some distance away from him and heard his superior officer and Mohd Hasnal saying ‘saya sudah kena’ (I am hit by the gunshots).
“While my superior officer and Mohd Hasnal were in the midst of taking cover, I recalled seeing a man in white shirt coming out from what is said to be Imam Tua’s house, and rushing towards my superior officer and slashing him on the head,” he testified in a voice tinged with emotion.
He testified further that in that tense situation and being unarmed, he took evasive step to take cover by rolling his body into the sea.
“While I was in the water under the bridge, I saw the same man slashing my superior officer several times before fleeing back to the same house,” he said, adding that, at the same time, he could still hear gunshots which ended when the sound of the prayer call came from a nearby surau.
To a question by Abdul Wahab, Mohd Zamari testified that he had also seen ASP Michael Padel, who led one of the arresting teams, turning to his direction and shouting ‘tolong, tolong’ (help, help).
“I saw Michael walking wobbly and then collapsing after what I believed he was hit by the gunfire at that time,” he said.
Prior to the chaotic situation, he recalled that he was in the company of two arresting teams, one headed by sergeant Baharin Hamid, Michael and his team, with him on the front line.
“ASP Azra Nursaffree Ramli (the 34th prosecution witness) had informed Baharin that the target house was not the one that Baharin had entered earlier but the house next to it, which looked dark and had no lights on,” he explained in his testimony.
Mohd Zamari also said that Azra, who headed the technical unit that traced the signal from Imam Tua’ cellphone number, had instructed them to act quickly as the target person was believed to be preparing to flee the area.
To another question from Abdul Wahab, the witness said that upon receiving that information from Azra Nursaffree, Michael, followed by Mohd Hasnal and Ibrahim, rushed to the exact house and confronted a man in dark shirt sitting in front of the house.
“When Michael reached the house and introduced himself as a police officer, the door of the house door suddenly opened and gunshots were fired towards them from inside the house.
“It was quite dark at that time and I could see flashes of light inside the house. I shouted ‘stay down’ and we took cover by lying down on the bridge,” he added.
On trial are the 29 men and a woman, including the nephew of the late self-styled Sulu Sultan III, Datu Jamalul Kiram, who were alleged to have committed terrorism activities at several places in Lahad Datu, Semporna, Kunak and Sandakan areas between February 12 and April 10, 2013.
They face the mandatory death sentence while the rest would be liable to life imprisonment and a fine, if convicted.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail led the prosecution team together with DPPs Abdul Wahab, Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Ishak Mad Yusoff, Cheng Heng Kher and Anati Kisahi.
The accused persons were represented by the Philippines-Embassy assigned counsel, Datuk N. Sivananthan, who is assisted by counsels James Tsai, Stella Simon, Zaleha Mohd Yusof Pan, Majnah Abdillah, Teressa Sirri and Zakaria Ahmad. Also involved were counsel Kamarudin Mohd Chinki, Ram Singh, YS Lo, Abdul Gani Zelika and Rowiena Rasid.
The trial continues today.