KOTA KINABALU: A senior police officer testified in the High Court yesterday that the name of a nephew of the late Sulu sultanate was listed in a report made by a Special Branch special team stationed here.
Investigating officer Superintendent Norliah Salamat for Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012 told Justice Stephen Chung that Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram’s name appeared in the report together with more than the names of 100 persons were listed as the arrested persons.
Under cross-examination by Datu Amirbahar’s counsel Datuk N. Sivananthan, the 98th witness also said that the other names that she recalled in the report were that of Julham Rashid and Norhaida Ibnahi.
To a question by Sivananthan, who is Philippines Government-assigned lawyer, the witness explained that she had reported to her boss the names of those reported by the special team.
However, to another question by Sivananthan, the witness could not confirm whether her boss ACP Yussof Mohd Amin had been given the names of all the 30 accused persons in the trial.
She also testified that as the investigating officer at that time, she only analysed reports that she received from the special team as instructed by ACP Yussof.
The witness was giving her testimony in the trial of 30 accused persons, including one woman and Datu Amirbahar, who is the nephew of Datu Jamalul Kiram, who faced various charges of committing terrorism acts.
They were apprehended during separate operations throughout Ops Sulu (later known as Ops Daulat) at several places in Lahad Datu, Semporna, Kunak and Sandakan between February 12 and April 10, 2013.
The indictments carry the mandatory death sentence while the rest provide for an imprisonment for life and a fine, upon conviction.
The trial held, at a hall doubled as an open court at the Kepayan prisons here under tight security checks by police and prison personnel, will resume yesterday.