Wife Of Attacked Prosecution Witness Seeks Police Protection

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The wife of a key prosecution witness in Lim Guan Eng’s corruption trial seeks police protection after an incident yesterday left her husband brutally injured.
G Geethajali said the incident, which occurred around 6.30am till 7.50am at her house yesterday, was not a mere robbery.
“It is premature to say that it is just a mere robbery. Many things had happened that showed it is not, as the group who threatened us had done so under the pretext of a robbery.
“There were many ‘unique’ things done, which I cannot disclose here, that showed they did not intend to rob.
“I am requesting the police to provide security for us, as my family is in fear because of what happened… I saw it with my own eyes, my husband was threatened, punched in his mouth, and hit with a machete,” she said.
She added that the police investigation at the scene ended around 5.30pm to 6pm yesterday, and that her statement was only recorded today.
Geethajali was speaking at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex today.
Also present was her lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, who commended the authorities for their ongoing investigation but took issue with how the incident was reported in the media.
Lawyer Shafee Abdullah“At this moment, there were things reported that we were dissatisfied with, and we just wanted the incident to be reported properly.
“It is obvious that this is not an ordinary robbery. It’s a threat or something done to scare the key witness,” he said.
Malaysiakini reported yesterday that a key witness in Lim’s trial was assaulted, and the lead prosecutor in the case said they are awaiting further instructions regarding the victim’s safety and will raise the matter in court at the next trial date on Aug 19.
Yesterday, police classified the incident as a robbery, with Petaling Jaya district police chief Shahrulnizam Ja’afar confirming the incident was unrelated to the ongoing court proceedings.
When contacted today, Shahrulnizam insisted to Malaysiakini that the authorities are conducting an evidence-based investigation and warned against speculation.
“We are investigating the case based on evidence gathered at the scene, which points to elements of robbery.
“We urge the public not to speculate and let us complete our investigation.”
Lawyers decry unfair speculation
Following the lead prosecutor’s confirmation of the incident yesterday, Lim’s lawyers from Messrs Haijan Omar & Co accused prosecutors of insinuating that the politician was linked to the attack.
“While we admit the prosecution has a right to consider protective measures, any action must be based on true security concerns and not on speculation and unfair bias that tried to implicate our client in the incident.
“Such speculation, whether by the media or prosecution, jeopardises the integrity of the judicial process and unfairly harms our client’s reputation,” they said in a statement today.
Lim is on trial over four corruption charges involving the planned construction of Penang’s undersea tunnel and paired roads project connecting the island to the mainland.
He is accused of abusing his power as the then-Penang chief minister for the first charge to obtain RM3.3 million in monetary gratification as an inducement to appoint Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd to implement the project worth RM6,341,383,702.
On the second charge, Lim was alleged to have asked the company’s former director, Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli, for 10 percent of profits as a reward for helping his company secure the project.
He also faces two counts of dishonestly disposing of two plots of land belonging to the Penang government in Bandar Tanjong Pinang, worth RM208 million, to the tunnel project’s developer. - Mkini

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