Saiful Bukhari's police report
According to Latheefa, it was just three months after the Pakatan Rakyat won five states in the 2008 general election, and the PKR leadership was in the middle of a leadership seminar at Quality Hotel, Shah Alam. The seminar came to a sudden halt on Saturday, June 28 when Anwar's then chief of staff Ibrahim Yaakob got word that a police report had been lodged against his boss. “There was a lot of panic and a sense of disbelief that this was happening again. "News leaked out and in no time the place was packed with supporters and reporters. We feared that Anwar would be taken away suddenly like in 1998,” said Latheefa.
In the midst of the panic, PKR lawyers including Latheefa, Saiful Izham and R Sivarasa were instructed to find out more about the report.They started with those closest to the complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. It was then that they had tried to contact Saiful Bukhari's schoolmate, then 23-year-old Rahimi Osman, who was no longer Anwar's aide at that point but was still helping out at events including the leadership seminar. “He was uncontactable for a while, and then he called someone to say that he was at Hospital Kuala Lumpur and that Saiful (Bukhari) was undergoing a check-up,” she said.
Rahimi was 'nervous'
According to Latheefa, Rahimi had come to the hotel voluntarily and had asked if he could stay there.“He said he wanted to stay at the hotel because he knew Saiful (Bukhari) mentioned his name and there was strong fear (following what happened in 1998 to Anwar's aides).“We were on one of the upper floors, in a private lounge and there were (security personnel) all over the hotel. “Rahimi was nervous and we wanted to make sure he tak kena cekup (would not be taken away),” she said. It was then that Saiful Izham drafted the first statutory declaration that Latheefa said “did not have too many details as (Rahimi) was not ready to say” many things.
Rahimi (left) however disputes this in his police report, saying instead that both Latheefa and Saiful Izham had forced him to stay in Quality Hotel for several days. Yesterday, Saiful Izham, who is also Kedah PKR Youth chief, however told the press that Rahimi had given the information voluntarily and had made several changes to the declaration.Latheefa added that Rahimi had stayed at Quality Hotel along with many other PKR members, although she cannot recall if he had a room of his own or was sharing. “I remember that he had even gone out with others to watch a football match at a stadium if I recall correctly. He was less nervous as the days went by,” she said.
The second statutory declaration
Several days after Saiful Bukhari's police report, the police called up Rahimi to take some statements; Rahimi was accompanied by lawyer Srikand Pillay. “They only asked him basic questions. But when they called him up a second time, we were worried that they might force him to say things so we started drafting a second statutory declaration based on what he claims Saiful (Bukhari) had told him,” said Latheefa. She admitted that both statutory declarations have been “misplaced” and that she cannot be certain of their contents.
She also cannot confirm if any of the conversations with Rahimi was recorded on video, adding that he was not questioned in one session.“We had called him every time we needed more information, and he even sat in on several of our defence team meetings to fill us in. “Not everything that Rahimi had told us was distilled into the (second) declaration,” she said. The second declaration was drafted by several lawyers including Latheefa and Sivarasa, with Rahimi present at the PKR headquarters in Tropicana.
Rahimi and Saiful's links with Mumtaz
“It was in a glass room and it was almost impossible for us to have forced him without anyone seeing. The main issue then was to get him to remember the details, like which restaurant, etc.“He was very very concerned about 'covering' for Mumtaz and Rosmah. He said he and Saiful (Bukhari) are childhood friends with Mumtaz's daughter. I can't recall mentioning Mumtaz and Rosmah in the declaration,” she said. Latheefa was referring to Mumtaz Jaafar (left), the head of the National Athletics Welfare Foundation and Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
The duo were both mentioned by Saiful Bukhairy in his testimony during Anwar's ongoing sodomy trial. As far as she recalled, the second statutory declaration is “two to three pages long” and included details on how Rahimi knew Saiful Bukhari.It also included what Saiful had told Rahimi about his meeting with Najib and ACP Rodhwan Mohd Yusof (now SAC 1) as well as the sodomy incident. “(In the statutory declaration) Rahimi said Saiful told him he was sodomised,” she said. The statutory declaration was signed before a commissioner of oath in the Petaling Jaya State (cinema) area, said Latheefa, and not 'Old Town' as stated in Rahimi's police report.
Rahimi tells cops he met Najib, but not with Saiful
Rahimi gave his second police statement on July 23, 2008 accompanied by lawyer Stanley Sinnapan. innapan would not be able to disclose what had transpired due to confidentiality but Rahimi had told Latheefa what the police had asked him. “They asked if he knew Mumtaz and if he had ever met Rosmah,” she said. Rahimi told Latheefa that he said he was brought by Mumtaz to meet Rosmah, “although he didn't really want to go”. “He said that later when Najib arrived, Rosmah introduced him as Saiful (Bukhari)'s friend. “(Rahimi) said that he then wondered how Najib knew his friend and confronted (Saiful Bukhari) about it afterwards,” she said of the incident which happened on June 25, 2008. The complainant claimed that he was sodomised by Anwar the day after, and testified in court that Rahimi had brought him to see former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor on June 27.
Rahimi maintains relations
According to Latheefa, Rahimi never asked for a copy of the statutory declarations. In his police report on Wednesday, he claimed that they were withheld from him. She added that although he was no longer on Anwar's staff, he was still helping out casually in the next few months and also during the campaign in the Permatang Pauh by-election. “He started to not return my calls or text messages when Karpal (Singh) took over as lead counsel in the sodomy trial after Sulaiman Abdullah pulled out due to illness.“We thought Karpal might need the statutory declarations, but it turned out he did not,” she said. Sulaiman had pulled out on July 15, 2009.
In his police report Rahimi said: “I did no entertain (Latheefa's calls) and tried my best to stay away from them.”Interestingly, despite being incommunicado in July, Rahimi had invited Latheefa to his wedding late last year. “I did not attend it as I had prior engagements but I know Anwar and many others (from PKR) attended,” she said. According to Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, police are investigating the case under Section 199 of the Penal Code. The section states that those knowingly giving false declarations which can be used in court are considered to be giving false evidence.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/144753
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