A man testified in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that he knows the second accused charged under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), Muhammad Hilmi Hasim, but has never heard of the militant group called Tanzim al-Qaeda Malaysia.

The man, retired Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Mohd Ariff Abdullah, said he knew Hilmi, who was brought to his Taman Tun Dr Ismail home a few of times by his son, Razif, before Razif left for Istanbul.

“During my conversations with Hilmi, we talked about and watched football. He would at times bring food to my home. Hilmi or my son never ever mentioned Tanzim al-Qaeda Malaysia,” Ariff said in reply to questions from lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad.

Hilmi and former Internal Security Act detainee Yazid Sufaat ( left ) are held under Sosma and are charged with being members of Tanzim Al Qaeda Malaysia, which has intention to recruit more people to join the group to attack civilians in Syria.

Yazid and Hilmi, if convicted for joining a group with the intention of injuring civilians in Syria, stand to face a maximum 30 years in jail.

For being members of an outlawed militant group, the Tanzim al-Qaeda, the two face life imprisonment if convicted.

Held under Sosma since 2012

The two have been held under Sosma since their arrest in October 2012.

Ariff further told the court during cross-examination by Amer that his son was not expelled from studying in Yemen because he was engaged in armed militant activities.

In fact many Malaysian students who were expelled from Yemen including Razif were cleared by former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan from any involvement in terrorism activities,  the witness said.  

“There are reports in Lebanon and also here linking my son with terrorist activities. This I find it hard to believe as he is not involved in any links to the terrorist group Al Qaeda,” Ariff said in replying to questions from the lawyer.

“They have blown the news over my son's arrest out of proportion despite what the former IGP Musa said about the students in Yemen including my son not being involved in al-Qaeda in 2010.”

There is a local English daily which reported in 2012 that Razif, 34, and Muhamad Razin Sharhan Mustafa Kamal, 25, had left for Istanbul on Oct 3, 2012, but were arrested in Lebanon for allegedly being trained to become suicide bombers.

Earlier, when replying to questions from DPP Mohd Hanafiah Zakaria, Ariff said Razif studied Arabic for one and a half years before being kicked out of Yemen for going out from Sanaa, the city where he was studying, without permission from the authorities.

Uproar from DPP

When Hanafiah proceeded to re-examine the witness, he accused Amer and the team of defence lawyers of interviewing Ariff as a witness before the trial.

He complained to Justice Mohd Azman Husin, saying that this was against the Legal Profession Act and Evidence Act.

However, Amer ( right ) pointed out that since the prosecution did not provide the lawyers with a witness list, they are entitled to meet any potential witnesses.

“We are not handed a copy of the bloody witness list, how do you expect us to conduct a trial. Since the trial started yesterday, we have yet to get the witness list from the prosecution,” he said.

Justice Azman then asked parties to continue with questioning the witness.

Ariff in replying to questions from Hanafiah said he saw his son with Hilmi, the second accused, a few months before his son had gone to Istanbul.

The witness also said he knew that Hilmi stayed in Sungai Buloh but do not know other details.

After lunch break, Hanafiah brought up the issue again with the judge, who after hearing a short submissions from both parties said he was merely recording their views and do not intend to make a ruling.

This led to the prosecution to call their fifth witness, The Star reporter Tashny Sukumaran.

However, Amer objected to Tashny's article which was published in 2012, from being produced in court as it will put a bad light on Yazid's character.

Following this, the defence and prosecution agreed to submit on the issue. The hearing is adjourned to May 5 to 15.