The Shah Alam High Court today dealt a major blow to the prosecution in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial when it ruled that a confession made by accused corporal Sirul Azhar Umar was inadmissible as evidence.

The alleged confession made by him to UTK (Special Action Squad) deputy commander ACP Mastor Mohd Ariff, 45, during their flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur on Nov 6 last year.

Justice Mohd Zaki Mohd Yasin ( pix ), in rejecting a bid by prosecutors to introduce the key confession, ruled in a trial-within-a-trial that Sirul's responses to Mastor were 'made involuntarily', thus making them inadmissible.

"The confession made by Sirul was not done voluntarily, therefore they are not admissible and will not be heard in the trial," said the judge.

"In my opinion, based on the facts of this case, there was clear inducement from Mastor," he added.

The judge had spent more than two days hearing testimony and arguments about the confession before issuing his ruling.

Mastor testified last Thursday that he was ordered to bring back Sirul from Pakistan, where the officer had been assigned to help guard Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

During the flight home, he told Sirul that Federal CID deputy director (II) Syed Ismail Syed Azizan had informed him that co-accused chief inspector Azilah Hadri, 31, had disclosed during police interrogation that Sirul had killed the Mongolian woman and blew her up.

"I told him that this was the reason why I needed to bring him back to Malaysia. I also told him that Azilah had revealed everything and there was nothing left to hide," Mastor had testified.

Prosecutor: Not a setback

According to Mohd Zaki, the 'inducement' stemmed from this part of the conversation.

"What is clear is that the statement 'there is nothing to hide, all has been revealed' is not part of what Syed Ismail told him but were Mastor's own words which tantamount to inducement.

"Mastor himself wanted a response. It is not established that Syed Ismail directed Mastor to secure a response," he said in his judgment.

The judge also ruled that the Sirul was not arrested, or in custody, when Mastor and two other officers escorted him back to KL from Pakistan.

Leading prosecutor Tun Majid Tun Hamzah, when approached for comments, said that the judge's ruling wasn't a setback for the prosecution team.

"We will be relying on other circumstantial evidence," he said before leaving the packed courtroom after today's adjournment.

Sirul's counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, meanwhile, said he was pleased with the judge's ruling.

"The law (made by the judge) was spot on but I believe the DPP has other evidence to rely on.

"But now there is one thing less to worry about," he told malaysiakini .

New witness tomorrow

The confession had been touted as authoritative evidence of prosecution to prove that Sirul, 36, had murdered the Mongolian national between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year at Lots 12843 and 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja, Shah Alam.

He is charged alongside Azilah, while well-connected political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, ( pix ) is charged with abetting them between 9.54am on Oct 18 and 9.45pm on Oct 19 last year at his office in Bangunan Lembaga Getah Asli in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

After the judge's ruling, counsel resumed their cross-examination of Mastor. A new witness will be called when the hearing resumes at 9.15am tomorrow.