Hulu Kelang state assemblyman Mohamed Azmin Ali, in his defence for perjury, told the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today that he decided to cut short his testimony in the High Court in 1999 because the judge kept interrupting on the relevance of his evidence.

He said he summarised his complaint to magistrate Azhar Othman instead of fully elaborating it when giving evidence as a defence witness during the corruption trial of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on March 9, 1999 after High Court judge Augustine Paul kept ruling his evidence as irrelevant.

"(Defence counsel) Christopher Fernando did not ask me to use indirect speech when he asked me what was my complaint to the magistrate. I had the right to speak based on my perception," he said during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Zauyah Be Loth Khan.

Azmin, 36, is being charged under Section 193 of the Penal Code for making a false statement while testifying in Anwar's trial. The charge carries a maximum jail term of seven years or a fine.

He had allegedly told the High Court: "I told the magistrate that my remand should not be extended because police brutality and threats against me while in their custody forced me to make a confession involving saudara Anwar which is baseless."

The prosecution is arguing that there were discrepancies in Azmin's testimony in Anwar's trial and when he made his complaint to magistrate Azhar .

Acquitted earlier

Azmin, who is former private secretary of Anwar when he was deputy prime minister, was originally acquitted and discharged of the perjury charge by Sessions Court judge Hamdan Indah on July 13, 1999.

However, High Court judge Abdul Wahab Patail later allowed an appeal by the prosecution on Feb 17 last year and ordered the case to be sent back to the Sessions Court for Azmin to enter his defence.

Meanwhile, during re-examination by defence counsel C V Prabhakaran, Azmin said he wrote a letter to CID director Yaakob Mohd Amin on the first day of his release from remand, saying that he would co-operate with the police in their investigations into his assets by providing necessary financial documents.

"I did not write to him about the police threats and brutality against me during my remand. Since it was the first day of my release, I was still scared, mentally disturbed, stressed and worried that if I had complained to Yaakob, I would be arrested again," he said.

Hearing before judge Akhtar Tahir continues on Jan 30. Lawyer Kamar Ainiah, who had represented Azmin, and magistrate Azhar are scheduled to testify when the hearing resumes.

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