KOTA KINABALU: A legal officer in the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) testified in the High Court here yesterday that he had authorized a senior police officer who applied to intercept phone numbers of suspects allegedly linked to the Sulu gunmen.
Deputy Head of the AGC’s Prosecution Division Datuk Mohamed Hanafiah Zakaria told Justice Stephen Chung that the applications were made by Bukit Aman special branch officer SAC Yusoff Mohd Amin on the phone numbers of 10 suspects, namely Salib Akhmad Emali, Anuar Salib Akhmad, Julham Rashid, Tani Lahad Dani @ Panglima Tani, Abdul Hadi Mawan, Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, Basil Samiul, Norhaida Ibnahi and Abdul Majil Jubin @ Utuh Jan (who later known as the accused persons).
Under examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed, the 128th witness also said that the authorization to do the communication interceptions was given by signing and stamping on the interception communication forms.
“SAC Yusoff asked for permission from me to do the interception calls on the phone numbers of the 10 persons and told me that it was related to the intrusion incident in Lahad Datu.
“After having perused the application letter and the interception communication forms, I was satisfied with reasons given and gave authorization to do the interception calls,” explained the witness.
To a question by Abdul Wahab, the witness further testified that SAC Yusoff went to his office to meet him in order to submit the application letter and forms, with each form having three or four copies.
The witness was testifying in the trial of 30 accused persons, including one woman and a nephew of the late self-styled Sulu sultanate III, Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, who are facing 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.
Waging war against the King charge carries the mandatory death sentence while the other charges 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 continue today.