The judge in the RM83 million 'Apcet II' civil suit has warned federal counsel Morhaji Selamat against admitting irrelevant evidence.

At the continuation of the hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Wisma Denmark today, justice Wan Adnan Muhamad ticked off Morhaji for attempting to tender a document when cross-examining the fifth witness labour activist Irene Xavier, 55 ( photo ).

Morhaji had referred to a booking form for the conference hall signed by one 'Poh Li Kheng' under Friends Of Women Organisation (PSWS), to which Xavier belongs.

He had asked Irene if she had seen the booking form and she answered in the negative.

Wan Adnan then interjected asking what the booking form has to do with the defence.

"How does it matter as to who booked the hall? It has already been held that the conference was a private meeting," he said.

Morhaji said he wanted to establish that the meeting was held despite the organisers knowing that the government disapproved of it.

"(The form was) signed by her NGO and not under 'Apcet'. This shows that they knew the government would disapprove of the meeting," he answered.

The judge proceeded to explain to Morhaji that private meetings do not require a permit or the government's permission.

"Does (the conference) need a permit if the government doesn't agree with it? Just because the government disapproves, it doesn't make the meeting illegal," he said.

"What we want to know is if the police acted within or outside the law. Such facts that the conference was disapproved of or how it was booked is completely irrelevant to the case."

He then warned Morhaji to exclude irrelevant facts and questions because it was wasting the parties' time.

Questions 'too long'

Despite the judge's advice, Morhaji insisted that the document be admitted as evidence.

Counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, representing a group of local activists and journalists who filed the suit, then got up and told Morhaji the evidence was irrelevant and inadmissable.

"We cannot agree to the authority of the booking form because 'Poh Li Kheng' is not my client. We are not privy to the document," he argued.

"By virtue of the fact that it's irrelevant to the case, I have no instruction to agree (for that document to be submitted as evidence)."

The hearing which lasted for over four hours also saw Wan Adnan telling Morhaji to keep his questions brief and concise.

"You are asking the same questions over and over again. Your questions are longer than the answers (of the witness). Shorten them and be precise," he said.

Apart from Malik, the plaintiffs are represented by M Moganambal and Abdul Rashid Ismail today while senior federal counsel Chandra Devi represented the defendants.

On Nov 9, 1996, over 100 people - including 10 journalists - were arrested on the opening day of the Second Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II), held to discuss human rights abuses in East Timor and its struggle for independence from Indonesia.

As the conference was about to begin, 400 members from the Umno Youth-led Barisan Bertindak Rakyat Malaysia, or Malaysia's People's Action Front, broke down the doors to he conference halls, threw chairs and verbally and physically abused the participants.

Police then moved in to arrest the participants who were detained between one and six days, while 40 foreign participants were deported. The activists filed their suit to claim damages for wrongful detention and police negligence in discharging statutory duties to disperse the mob.

Among the plaintiffs are Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohammad, PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali, vice-president R Sivarasa, Parti Sosialis Malaysia pro-tem president Dr Nasir Hashim and New Era College principal Dr Kua Kia Soong.

Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran and editor-in-chief Steven Gan, both then journalists at The Sun , are also among the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs have named the government, then inspector general of police Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor and two senior police officers - then Kuala Lumpur chief police officer Ismail Che Rose and then Dang Wangi OCPD Zainal Abidin Ali - as respondents.

The hearing continues tomorrow.