KOTA KINABALU, Sept 18 — The High Court here today heard that an unidentified individual in an intercepted phone conversation was believed to be a Lahad Datu intrusion suspect.
Testifying as a protected witness at the hearing into the armed intrusion in Lahad Datu, a communication interception processing officer said this was because the individual’s voice and speech style were similar to that of the suspect, Datu Amir Bahar.
“At that time, the individuals in the telephone conversations were still in the process of identification.
“However, I believed the person on the receiving end was Datu Amir Bahar based on the voice intonation and language style as in previous intercepted calls,” said the witness through a court interpreter, who wore earphones to follow the testimony of the witness.
The witness, who went by the initials AVB, was being cross-examined by counsel Abdul Gani Zelika in the trial of 30 individuals linked to the intrusion by Sulu gunmen at Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu in February 2013.
Abdul Gani had suggested that AVB was unsure of who the caller and the receiver were in four telephone conversations intercepted on March 14, 2013 in which the target was another intrusion suspect known as Abdul Hadi Mawan.
In the dock are 27 Filipinos and three local residents who are facing one to multiple charges of being members of a terrorist group and waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
They are also alleged to have recruited members for a terrorist group or wilfully harboured individuals they knew to be members of a terrorist group.
The offences were allegedly committed between Feb 12 and April 10, 2013.
The hearing before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prisons Department resumes on Oct 19. — Bernama
