A former special branch personnel who told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that he saw red marks on the hands of ex-Internal Security Act detainee Abdul Malek Hussin, today sang a different tune.

While grilled by federal counsel, Ujang Ali said he had not even entered the room where the detainee was being held.

He said he had been waiting outside an interrogation room in the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters and had only "glanced for a moment" when the door was opened to see a Malay detainee sitting on the chair.

Ujang clarified further that he only saw up close the ex-ISA detainee when the plaintiff was handcuffed outside the room and escorted to the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters.

Yesterday, Ujang in his testimony to the court said that he had seen a ' happy, calm and cheerful ' Abdul Malek in the interrogation room despite "the red marks on his hands."

He also said yesterday that Abdul Malek was not given a physical examination while in the room, which contradicts with the statement of special branch officer Borhan Daud who had claimed otherwise earlier in the trial.

Borhan is the third respondent in the civil suit filed by Abdul Malek that also names as defendants the Malaysian government and the Inspector-General of Police. He is seeking RM30 million in damages for the suffering endured.

Federal counsel rapped

Meanwhile, Justice Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus ticked off federal counsel Morhaji Selamat for failing to take proper notes during the trial and having to rely on the notes of Abdul Malek's counsel R Sivarasa for the previous day's hearing.

Hishamudin also chided Morhaji for failing to ask the witness the right questions and to phrase the questions correctly.

"You must be imaginative yourself, Morhaji. Don't just look at the questions. You have to bring yourself there (at the scene)," he said.

At one point during the hour and a half re-examination, Hishamudin took it upon himself to spend considerable time questioning Ujang.

"I'm doing your job, Encik Morhaji," quipped the judge.

Morhaji, on the other hand, expressed exasperation at his 57-year old witness for being ambiguous, telling Ujang at one point to "confirm whether you are of the opinion that you saw him or you really did see him. Please confirm, and if you want to explain, explain."

"Please tell the court lah, when you glanced into the room, who could you identify in the room? If you know, say you know. If you do not know, then say you do not know," he added.

"I don't know who it was at the time. I just saw a Malay male sitting on a chair in the room, but I was not sure if that was the plaintiff. I only knew that it was a detainee," replied Ujang.

Abdul Malek claims to have suffered physical and psychological trauma after being detained and assaulted in September 1998 for his alleged involvement in demonstrations sparked by the sacking of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

He claimed that he was to stripped naked and drenched with water in an air-conditioned room, beaten more than 60 times to unconsciousness, sexually harassed and abused, forced to drink urine and threatened with an HIV/Aids virus injection.

The next hearing is set to resume on July 5.