KOTA KINABALU: A Filipino accused in the Lahad Datu intrusion case had agreed to meet with police to prove he was merely a part-time bodyguard for a Sulu sultan, the High Court here heard yesterday.
Timhar Hadil, 39, said he brought documents and a badge related to the so-called sultanate to show to the police during the meeting on the morning of Feb 18, 2013.
“I, together with my younger brother Bakrin and my father, went to Restoran Rahmat (in Lahad Datu) to meet a CID policeman Corporal Yusof.
“I brought a badge and an envelope containing documents because I wanted to prove to the police that I was a part-time bodyguard to Sultan Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram,” he said in the Suluk language.
His testimony was translated into Bahasa Malaysia by a court interpreter.
Timhar was entering his defence on a charge of being a member of a terrorist group during an armed intrusion at Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu in 2013.
He said he went to the restaurant after learning the night before that police were looking for him because he was a ‘panglima’ or ‘general’ of a so-called Sulu sultan.
He disagreed with deputy public prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar during cross-examination that he was involved in the armed intrusion at Kampung Tanduo.
Thirteen Filipinos and a local man who are entering their defence before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prison Department for various offences allegedly committed between Feb 12 and April 10, 2013.
Some of the accused are facing one to multiple charges of being members of a terrorist group and waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Others are alleged to have wilfully harboured individuals they knew to be members of a terrorist group, or solicited or gave support to a terrorist group.
The hearing continues today. — Bernama