Abdul Razak Baginda's press conference yesterday was ill-timed and ill-advised, said veteran lawyer Karpal Singh today.

Karpal, who is Bukit Gelugor MP, said this was because there were legal cases pertaining the Altantuya murder case presently underway when Abdul Razak spoke about the case in his press conference.

The cases were the ongoing Altantuya murder trial at the Shah Alam High Court and the civil suit filed by Shaariibuu Setev, the woman's father against Abdul Razak and Azilah Hadri, Sirul Azhar Umar and the Malaysian government.

"What has been revealed could well reflect upon the course of the criminal trial and civil suit proceedings," he said in a statement.

Karpal, who is holding a watching brief for Shaariibuu in the criminal trial and representing him in civil suit, said everyone knew the defence may call blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and recall private investigator P Balasubramaniam who was the first prosecution witness.

"Abdul Razak, has by the public statements at the press conference, may well have pre-empted Balasubramaniam and Raja Petra's testimonies and the contents of their statutory declaration.

"The criminal trial at the Shah Alam High Court and the civil suit at the Kuala Lumpur High Court should be allowed to proceed without any comments by any quarter to ensure a fair trial," he said.

Contempt of court?

Stopping short of saying that Abdul Razak may have committed contempt with his press conference, Karpal said the two witnesses could have been called to testify based on the statutory declarations they made.

abdul razak baginda pc 201108 07 Yesterday, Abdul Razak, 48, in his first press conference after his acquittal on Oct 31, said the police had also questioned him over Balasubramaniam's statutory declaration and what he said yesterday (to the media) was the same he told the police - that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had never met Altantuya.

The political analyst also claimed what was posted in blogs were vicious lies and the public should not believe what they read verbatim without being critical on it.

"I was surprised how easy it was to lie on the Internet and in blogs," Abdul Razak had said.

Lawyers representing Sirul Azhar, who along with Azilah, were ordered by High Court judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin on Oct 31 to enter their defence, had indicated they may call Balasubramaniam and Raja Petra to testify in the trial.

During Abdul Razak's press conference yesterday, the political analyst cleared Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor, when he said they had not met Altantuya.

When asked how does he know, Abdul Razak said "I know, I know."