September 21, 2012
MACC Panel: Cecil Abraham not involved in closing case
by http://www.malaysiakini.com (12-20-12)
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Operations Review Panel clarified today that senior lawyer Cecil Abraham, who was allegedly linked to private eye P Balasubramaniam’s second statutory declaration (SD), had no hand in the panel’s decision to stop the investigation against the latter.
“The Operations Review Panel would like to state that one of the panel members, Cecil Abraham, was not present nor involved in the meeting,” panel chairperson, Tan Sri Hadenan Abdul Jalil said in a statement today.
He said the case related to Balasubramaniam’s second SD was discussed during the panel’s meeting on November 8, 2012, and the panel had agreed with the Deputy Public Prosecutor’s decision to stop the investigation on grounds that the testimonies given by major witnesses were not supported by other witnesses, and the credibility of the major witnesses was disputable.
Since last week, Malaysiakini has attempted to contact Cecil, who is a senior partner of the legal firm of Zul Rafique and Partners, through telephone, writing, facsimile and email, but has yet to receive any response.
Hadenan (right) was responding to articles published in the online media related to MACC’s investigation on Balasubramaniam’s second SD.
The issue arose last month when Deepak Jaikishan, who has claimed to be personally involved in the ‘flipping’ of Balasubramaniam, made a series of explosive revelations, including the allegation that two lawyers – a senior lawyer and his son – were involved in drafting the second SD.
In the first SD, Balasubramaniam linked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu who was murdered by two police officers in 2006, but he signed a second SD the next day to deny Najib’s involvement.
Check-and-Balance Mechanism
In an interview with PAS organ Harakah last week, Deepak had related how the senior lawyer had drafted and prepared the document along with the latter’s son, though only his son came to see the other parties involved at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where Balasubramaniam was allegedly “kept”.
The lawyer’s name was supposedly mentioned by Deepak in the interview that has been posted on YouTube, with the name edited out.
In the statement today, Hadenan stressed that the panel functions as a check-and-balance mechanism in the MACC, where all investigations done by the commission will be submitted to the panel members for their feedback.
“The panel members consist of those with expertise and who represent professional bodies, and they make decisions without interference from any party.Hence any statement that doubts the transparency and independence of the operations review panel is much regretted,” he said, adding that the MACC would reopen investigations if there were new and relevant statements.
However, Hadenan’s statement does not mention whether Cecil was involved in Balasubramaniam’s second SD.
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http://www.malaysiakini.com (12-20-12)
Americk Singh Sidhu’s Press Release
The following is the press release in full by Americk Singh Sidhu, who is the lawyer for former private eye P Balasubramaniam.
There has been much speculation in the press recently over the identity of a “Tan Sri lawyer and his son” who were both supposedly involved in the preparation of my client’s 2nd statutory declaration (SD), the contents of which were specifically designed to withdraw the allegations made in his earlier statutory declaration and to state that my client, Bala, was ‘compelled’ to make those allegations ‘under duress’.
The reasons for this alleged ‘compulsion’ leading to the alleged ‘duress’ were never explained in the 2nd SD.
As far as I am concerned, the 1st SD was transcribed, produced and eventually affirmed by my client over a period of two months during which time every detail was painstakingly checked and cross-checked to ensure the highest accuracy. There was never any reason for my client to withdraw those contents unless he had been forced to, which is now apparent.
Let me make it very clear that my client does not know the identity of the lawyer(s) who drafted this 2nd statutory declaration. He had not instructed any lawyer to do so. This is because the contents of his 1st statutory declaration were true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Therefore there was never any necessity to alter the contents of his 1st SD. However, Bala was forced to sign a 2nd SD because of a threat to the safety of his wife and children.
My client was presented with this 2nd SD when he was being held in a room at the Hilton Hotel, KL Sentral, on the morning of July 4, 2008. In the hotel room with him at that time were Deepak Jaikishan (left), his brother Dinesh and one ASP Suresh.
At about 8am Deepak received a phone call from the reception desk informing him that some documents had just been delivered to the hotel. Dinesh went to retrieve them and brought them back to the room.
A few minutes later an elderly Malay gentleman turned up at this room. His name was Zainal Abidin bin Muhayat. He introduced himself as a commissioner for oaths and proceeded to attest Bala’s signature on the 2nd SD. Bala had not read the contents of this 2nd SD. He was merely requested to sign it. This commissioner for oaths then placed his stamp over his own signature.
The address on this stamp is Suite 17.01, 17th Floor, Menara Pan Global, Lorong P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur. It has been pointed out that this address is the same as that of the law firm of Zul Rafique & Partners in 2008. I presume this Commissioner for Oaths must have been working from this office, unless of course a false address had been used.
The Commissioner for Oaths then informed Deepak to make sure he showed my client where his office was situated whilst Deepak was driving Bala to the Prince Court Hotel for a press conference scheduled to take place later that morning.
Concern of the Commissioner of Oaths
This Commissioner for Oaths was concerned that Bala would know exactly where his office was as a commissioner for oaths is only supposed to attest signatures at the premises at which he is registered. He wanted to ensure Bala knew where his office was situated in the event he was asked. Deepak however, did not show Bala where this office was.
At the Prince Court Hotel, Bala was held in an area above the main lobby where he was
introduced to a lawyer named Arunampalam, whose presence at the hotel had been organised by Deepak. This lawyer informed Bala that he was not to say anything to the press, who were waiting in the main lobby, as he, Arunampalam, would do all the talking.
Bala had never met this lawyer Arunampalam before that and neither had Bala engaged him to represent him in the scheduled press conference.
At the conference that followed, Arunampalam handed out copies of the 2nd SD to all the journalists present and informed them that Bala (right) had been forced to sign the 1st SD under duress. This, of course, is totally untrue.
The only duress Bala had been under was when he was forced to sign the 2nd SD as threats had unequivocally been made to the wellbeing of his wife and children by both Deepak and Nazim Tun Razak. These threats have been documented in earlier revelations Bala has made and are in the public domain. Both Deepak and Nazim Tun Razak have not denied these allegations.
It is pertinent to note that whilst this press conference was being held at the Prince Court Hotel, Bala’s wife and children were at the immigration department at Pusat Bandar Damansara with Deepak’s secretary, a Miss Wong, having their passports hastily processed for the intended flight from Malaysia, due to take place that very afternoon.
This was one of the conditions imposed by Deepak and the parties behind him as a guarantee for the safety of Bala’s wife and children….that they immediately leave the country until such time that Najib Tun Razak became prime minister.
Having laid out the circumstances in which Bala was made to sign that 2nd SD, I would now wish to comment on the speculation surrounding the lawyers involved in preparing that second SD.
The Bar Council President, Lim Chee Wee, has made a statement to the effect that the Bar Council would no doubt urge the Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board to investigate this matter should a complaint be lodged against the lawyers who prepared this second SD.
I wish to clarify the position at present.
Bala is unable to lodge a complaint with this Disciplinary Board for the simple reason he is unable to identify the lawyer(s) who attended to the drafting of that 2nd SD, as this was done in his absence and without his permission.
All he is able to do at this point in time is to confirm that he had not instructed any lawyer to prepare that 2nd SD, nor was he present before a lawyer when it was being prepared. The contents of that 2nd SD are also totally false.
Deepak has gone on record to say that the lawyers involved in the preparation of that 2nd SD were in fact a ‘Tan Sri and his son who is also a lawyer’.
This statement has, in the circumstances, publically perpetrated, by insinuation and deduction, the identification of Tan Sri Cecil Abraham (left) and his son Sunil as the possible culprits due to a strange series of coincidences, which in themselves are indeed unfortunate.
I wish to place on record that I find these allegations extremely surprising as I know Cecil personally. He is a barrister of the highest integrity with at least 40 years of impeccable service to the Malaysian Bar and is held in high esteem by all those who have had the privilege of making his acquaintance, both personally and professionally.
Bar Council President must act
It is therefore unthinkable that someone who possesses such an ingrained sense of dignity, integrity and professionalism and who has dedicated over 40 years of his life in upholding all that is sacrosanct to the honour of being a member of an historically noble profession, would in any way so blatantly compromise those ideals by partaking in something as undignified and as irresponsible as knowingly formulating a false statement to be sworn by someone he had never met, under circumstances of obvious duress and coercion, knowing at all times that I was representing Bala.
It is for this reason Bala will not, at this point in time, be lodging a complaint with the Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board for the simple reason he is unable to identify the lawyer (or lawyers) concerned who were involved in preparing a knowingly false statutory declaration without any instructions from him to do so.
As this is a rather serious matter, may I suggest that the President of the Bar Council organise a simple email to be sent to all members of the Malaysian Bar requesting that the member(s) responsible for drafting that 2nd SD do the right thing and make themselves known, as it appears innocent parties may be publicly falling victim to the blame game and finger pointing which has emerged since Deepak’s revelations, to which I certainly do not subscribe.
Americk Singh Sidhu
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
Tan Sri Cecil Abraham is a very competent lawyer with solid reputation for his work. I know him personally. Please give him time to respond and I am certain that he will act to clear his name.–Din Merican
He does not deserve time to respond . He should just resign from the panel he sits on. He is no better then our cursed corrupt Prime Minister of 22 years and our cursed corrupt judges.
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I am confident that my friend Cecil knows what he must do. Any man should be given the right to explain and defend himself. That is our justice system.–Din Merican
Even the noblest of men can turn for the right price. Such is that world we live in now.
Besides, if you hang around in a corrupt circle, it is only a matter of time till you too become corrupt.
People like Cecil and his son, if they are really guilty of drafting the second statutory declaration , are then not only an insult to their grandparents who helped give them a good education but also and insult to the schools from which they graduated .
Hence , i hope Cecil knows what he has to do , if guilty that is , and will do it post haste.
Datuk,
Good that you are standing up for a friend. Perhaps the allegations may be cleared up.
But the allegations and talk which do not exactly put Cecil Abraham in a good light – ranging from the PI Bala SD2 to his roles in arbitration to his Shearn Delamore days – are indeed disturbing.
Hopefully Cecil Abraham will respond clearly.
Dato Din.saya kenal Cecil secara peribadi kerana ia pernah menjadi Senior council untuk satu kes rayuan saya di Federal Court.Seorang peguam yang mempunyai intergrati yang tinggi dan saya setuju dengan apa yang di tulis oleh Americk Sidhu.Dalam hidup kadang kadang kita membuat kesalahan yang bodoh.Saya rasa perkara ini mungkin tidak akan terjadi jika Cecil masih menjadi partner dalam Skrine.Pada masa itu Cecil sudah menjadi rakan kongsi dengan Zul Rafik,yang memang rapat dengan UMNO dan Najib. Saya setuju kita beri dia masa.
This is nothing but he says she says. It is not evidence. The fact that it is a sworn out-pf-court statement does not mean anything. It is still hearsay if it is submitted as proof of the truth of its contents. Whether this guy Bala was forced into making and signing the statement prepared for him could easily be resolved when and if the case involving Najib Razak alleged to have a role in the murder of Tuya comes to court. SInce it will never see the light of day in court, why are you guys screaming your heads off as to the identity of the lawyer who helped draft the out-of-court sworn statement attested to by some Commissioner of Oaths who can no longer remember anything. assuming he is still alive.
Since the IGP is never going to put together a case against Najib Razak, and the country’s top prosecutor is never going to see the investigation file on his desk since there is none that exists and none is being compiled, why overtax and overburden your brain cells more of which are dying from alcohol abuse than are being replaced??
The Tan Sri Lawyer is a minor player. The silence from the main parties who had instigated this 2nd SD, i.e Rosmah and Najib is worrying. Are we focussed on the minor actors to distract fromn the main culprit/s.?
Well clarified Amrick
Further, all this hubries will lead to the Tan Sri getting a soft slap on his knuckles from the compliant Bar Council, while the main murderer/s will continue to hide behind the opaque wall of silence. Logically the thread linking each individuals involved in the commission of the 2nd SD that inherently carries some serious criminal offences would or should lead to reveal the main murderer of the Mongloian lady.
The vital question is very simple. Did he have anything to do with the second SD? Yes or no. It does not require time to answer this simple question. The impression I got was that Bala made the allegation that a senior lawyer and his son drafted the second SD. Now his lawyer denied it and in fact defended the senior lawyer. The matter can be solved by the senior lawyer coming out to deny that he had anything to do with the second SD. It is that simple. Don’t remain silent like Najib and Rosmah.
The Facts
1. He was not present nor involved in the meeting.
AND YET…
2. The investigations done by the commission will be submitted to
panel members for their feedback.
Yes, he must come out to clear his name.
After what Mahathir has done to this country, MUCH of those with ‘solid reputation’ are simply dubious and tainted..I have met many many Tan Sri’s in my life, even those from Tunku era admit to not being untainted..
I am quite sure he will come up with a reason to squirm his way out. The fact is those who are privilleged, successful in societies suppose to hold a higher responsibility and higher standards. Too many in our society don’t meet that.
It is how much he is paid . The larger the amount the braver he is to go along the justice of non reality. Now who is the paymaster for this SD2..? That paymaster/s should be in the picture .
So now the focus has shifted from the alleged co-conspirator to alleged accomplices after the fact who helped draft an out-of-court self-serving statement. You guys are a joke. No wonder the country is down the tube.
Someone throws a bone with a little meat, and like dogs you’re all over each other for a piece of whatever meat is left.
“Logically the thread linking each individuals involved in the commission of the 2nd SD that inherently carries some serious criminal offences would or should lead to reveal the main murderer of the Mongloian lady.” — anakrakyat
You got the ‘shooter’ and his accomplice locked up. The only reason why they are locked up is so that you guys don’t get to them, nobody gets to them other than those who have everything to lose — assuming they are still in their cells.. They know the identitites of the co-conspirators; and in a jurisdiction that practices plea bargaining these two would have been given a lesser sentence in exchange for thier identities. But alas that was never meant to be in a rogue state like Malaysia that has long made a mockery of the rule of law.
All this dust being kicked up is nothing but a ploy by some members of the fraternity with an axe to grind against those who sold their cooperation and their integrity along with it for a price. It is the Bar Council washing its dirty linen in public.
Seems everyone is barking at the wrong tree. Why is our judiciary system act like a eunuch when face with a current or ex PM? Do an individual in the higher hierarchy of society has some special immunity?
Yes Cecil Abraham has the right to explain and we are eagerly waiting for his explanation. But the focus should not be deflected from the question of whether he drafted the second SD or not. Its not about him being involved or not in closing the case.
There is a lot of kind words for Cecil. I do agree that he has been a good lawyer. For Cecil to further practice professionally, it is impossible because of the four pillars democracy has been destroyed by the former dictator that ruled Malaysia for the pass 22 years in the corrupt regime. Namely, the judiciary, legislative, executive and monarchy is all gone, we only have EXECUTIVE left.
Cecil is caught into it. You tell me what can he do when someone whether tall, short or fat from Putrajaya called. What do you expect Cecil to do?
Yeah, yeah all the craps that Cecil has done in past is meaningless, because of one blunder, to serve the leader of Malaysia. Cecil perhaps has done a lot of good, this one mistake killed him off. The same kind of karma Deepak mention.
Those whom apple polish Cecil, please, he has had made a mistake. He has to pay dearly for it.
Our Attorney General is also caught in the same trap that he could not get out. Ask anyone in the street about AG, will AG get a thumbs up? Ask anyone in the street about IGP, will get he a salute?
The Rakyat has been sodomised for so long, from the people that we ourselves elect to the office. Even great man, like Cecil will have a master the squeeze his balls.
Who do you think squeeze our beloved PM balls?
Cecil Abraham maybe an honorable man.
But UMNO-BN is calling for payback time for his Tan Sri-ship and Datuk-ship.
Cecil Abraham should know there is no such thing as a free lunch or a free Tan Sri-ship.
I heard from my own sources he is one of those lawyers who is very conscious of social status… that he would buy his way to climb up the social ladder. When called by the powers-that-be to knowingly compromise his personal and professional integrity, many say, they are not surprised he would do it. And he DID. That is why, he is unable to respond instead got the chairperson of MACC’s Operations Review Panel to protect his ass, so to speak.
Cecil Abraham has got a tablespoon of ink in his glass of milk. He is now so badly tarnished by his poor judgment on this case, that he is as good as that judge Augustine Paul.
You go to ask, why would such a man who had been successful as a lawyer, respected by many for his professionalism, suddenly stooped so low as to commit a dishonorable and disgraceful to put an ordinary Malaysian into disrepute, only to be caught with his pants down.
We all know the saying, “A man can take only so much”. Bala rightly took only so much…and when they deceit and lies went beyond the threshold, Bala bolted and spilled the beans. And then we have a reputable lawyer, who now had to pay back the powers that be for his Tan Sri-ship, who decided to disgrace an innocent man by falsifying the second SD for Bala to sign.
I don’t know whether Cecil Abraham is a social snob or not, but his action is an absolute disgrace.
” However, Hadenan’s statement does not mention whether Cecil was involved in Bala’s second SD “. This is the gist of the article. Sadly, public attention has been diverted to Cecil Abraham, an extra. Do not miss the real actor in this game of deceit.
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ABardan
Cecil Abraham is the MAIN actor right now. It was his hand that drafted the second SD knowing full that a respectable lawyer WOULD NOT do it, whether given a Tan Sri ship,or not.
When you sleep with the devil, you wake up as the devil too.
“Cecil Abraham has got a tablespoon of ink in his glass of milk. He is now so badly tarnished by his poor judgment on this case, that he is as good as that judge Augustine Paul.” — Ol’ Frank
Indians who assume names of their colonial masters from the ‘old country’ go through life with a permanent identify crisis, pariahs in their own Indian community and objects of ridicule by other communities. You find many of them in the legal profession having adopted the ways of the old English gentleman, having made their rounds in the Inns of Courts in London, England, having dined and savoured pot the English way, dressed in 3-piece suit, white winged collars and put on horse hair for a wig, they returned to Malaysia to carve their names in stone oblivious of their humble origins.
Cecil Abraham, I believe, was not born with a silver sppon up his ass nor cow teats in his hand. That’s the problem.
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Now that we are on the subject of the mystery lawyer surrounding Bala’s SD, can we review our own thoughts if he was indeed arrogant, detached, and softly cocky?
Merry X’mas Cecil Abraham. Never forget your roots.
Is the Arbitration Institute following tis development?