Baharuddin's death: Cops did not 'direct' CCTV footage
Koh Jun LinPublished: Mar 22, 2012 11:19 AM | Updated: Mar 22, 2012 11:28 AM
A security manager at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) has denied that CCTV footage of the Bersih 2.0 rally recorded around the time of taxi driver Baharuddin Ahmad's death had been tampered with.
INQUEST
KLCC security manager denies police had a hand in the production of two CCTV footage clips screened in the coroner's court.
A security manager at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) has denied that CCTV footage of the Bersih 2.0 rally recorded around the time of taxi driver Baharuddin Ahmad's death had been tampered with.
"I put it to you that this ‘movie' was directed by the Special Branch," asked the lawyer for Baharuddin's family, Patrick Dass, at the coroner's inquest into Baharuddin's death yesterday.
"I deny it, sir," responded the manager, Kalaikumar P Chelladori.
Kalaikumar also responded similarly to many questions put forth by the lawyers for the family for the taxi driver who died during last year's July 9 Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur for free and fair elections.
He denied that the video clips were edited, that police officers were present to instruct where the cameras should point to, and that the investigating officer Razali Mahmood was the "director, scriptwriter and editor" of the video clip.
"They do their work, I do my work," said Kalaikumar, who is in charge of security at the area that includes the Petronas Twin Towers and the public parks outside.
The court was earlier shown two silent clips of CCTV footage. The plaintiff's lawyers complained that the first footage did not show the taxi stand where Baharuddin was thought to have fallen down, while the second footage started about a minute after the time he was thought to have fallen.
"(It is just) your opinion, sir," Kalaikumar said when Dass said the video footage was biased and intentionally focused to misrepresent what really happened.
Two footage clips screened
The first footage was taken between 3.55pm and 4.42pm on July 9, last year with a security camera placed at the intersection of Jalan Ampang and Jalan P Ramli.
In the first 10 minutes, it depicts a small crowd around the camera, with thousands gathering and building up at a distance. The footage centres on five people standing on an elevated platform and giving speeches.
The camera was almost constantly moving and zooming, controlled remotely by CCTV operator Haidhar Faiz Haniff.
About 4.16pm, the people in the crowd start dispersing, hastily, with some running and others walking away briskly.
The clip shows plainclothes police officers arriving at the scene at 4.21pm and start arresting people, while riot police and uniformed men in arrest teams followed closely.
Two water cannon trucks then arrived at the scene, but did not fire at the crowd. There were also at least five ‘Black Maria' police trucks present.
Cameras did not focus on ambulance
The riot police marched off in formation at 4.24pm and by 4.30pm, the scene appeared calm with few pedestrians and an occasional vehicle passing the camera's view.
The second footage taken between 4.43pm to 5.01pm near the Petronas Twin Tower's Jalan Ampang bus stop, and the clip shows a view from Bagunan Getah Asli to Avenue K.
Baharuddin was found to have collapsed near Avenue K on that day, and was pronounced dead at around 5.10pm - the sole fatality during the protests.
Police have maintained that he died of a heart attack, but his family disputes this.
The video clip shows several police vehicles that stopped and the ambulance van that came to Baharuddin's aid passing through.
However, unlike the first footage, the camera stopped moving and was pointed at areas such as the tower's foyer area and Avenue K at a distance, which led to the lawyers for Baharuddin's family accuse police of having a role in directing the field of vision for this camera.
‘No unpleasant smell'
Kalaikumar denied this, and said the cameras were likely to have been left unattended while the operator handled other cameras.
He also said he was on the ground, radioing instructions to Haidhar Faiz to check various areas for signs of trouble, and denied that police were with him at that time or that they had given him instructions before the rally began.
Earlier, during examination by DPP Kalmizah Ahmad Irhrakh, Kalaikumar said he heard that a crowd was marching towards KLCC along Jalan Sultan Ismail, and rode a motorcycle to Hotel Maya at 3.40pm to check this out.
Upon reaching the hotel on Jalan Ampang and seeing the crowd, he went to the vicinity of the camera that took the first footage to monitor the situation and direct security efforts.
He did not hear any gunshots, Kalaikumar said, nor did he "smell anything unpleasant", and described the water coming out of the water cannon trucks as akin to "drooling; without power".
The inquest before coroner Zulkpli Abdullah continues on Monday.
"I put it to you that this ‘movie' was directed by the Special Branch," asked the lawyer for Baharuddin's family, Patrick Dass, at the coroner's inquest into Baharuddin's death yesterday.
"I deny it, sir," responded the manager, Kalaikumar P Chelladori.
Kalaikumar also responded similarly to many questions put forth by the lawyers for the family for the taxi driver who died during last year's July 9 Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur for free and fair elections.
He denied that the video clips were edited, that police officers were present to instruct where the cameras should point to, and that the investigating officer Razali Mahmood was the "director, scriptwriter and editor" of the video clip.
"They do their work, I do my work," said Kalaikumar, who is in charge of security at the area that includes the Petronas Twin Towers and the public parks outside.The court was earlier shown two silent clips of CCTV footage. The plaintiff's lawyers complained that the first footage did not show the taxi stand where Baharuddin was thought to have fallen down, while the second footage started about a minute after the time he was thought to have fallen.
"(It is just) your opinion, sir," Kalaikumar said when Dass said the video footage was biased and intentionally focused to misrepresent what really happened.
Two footage clips screened
The first footage was taken between 3.55pm and 4.42pm on July 9, last year with a security camera placed at the intersection of Jalan Ampang and Jalan P Ramli.
In the first 10 minutes, it depicts a small crowd around the camera, with thousands gathering and building up at a distance. The footage centres on five people standing on an elevated platform and giving speeches.
The camera was almost constantly moving and zooming, controlled remotely by CCTV operator Haidhar Faiz Haniff.
About 4.16pm, the people in the crowd start dispersing, hastily, with some running and others walking away briskly.
The clip shows plainclothes police officers arriving at the scene at 4.21pm and start arresting people, while riot police and uniformed men in arrest teams followed closely.
Two water cannon trucks then arrived at the scene, but did not fire at the crowd. There were also at least five ‘Black Maria' police trucks present.
Cameras did not focus on ambulance
The riot police marched off in formation at 4.24pm and by 4.30pm, the scene appeared calm with few pedestrians and an occasional vehicle passing the camera's view.
The second footage taken between 4.43pm to 5.01pm near the Petronas Twin Tower's Jalan Ampang bus stop, and the clip shows a view from Bagunan Getah Asli to Avenue K.
Baharuddin was found to have collapsed near Avenue K on that day, and was pronounced dead at around 5.10pm - the sole fatality during the protests.
Police have maintained that he died of a heart attack, but his family disputes this.
The video clip shows several police vehicles that stopped and the ambulance van that came to Baharuddin's aid passing through.
However, unlike the first footage, the camera stopped moving and was pointed at areas such as the tower's foyer area and Avenue K at a distance, which led to the lawyers for Baharuddin's family accuse police of having a role in directing the field of vision for this camera.
‘No unpleasant smell'
Kalaikumar denied this, and said the cameras were likely to have been left unattended while the operator handled other cameras.
He also said he was on the ground, radioing instructions to Haidhar Faiz to check various areas for signs of trouble, and denied that police were with him at that time or that they had given him instructions before the rally began.
Earlier, during examination by DPP Kalmizah Ahmad Irhrakh, Kalaikumar said he heard that a crowd was marching towards KLCC along Jalan Sultan Ismail, and rode a motorcycle to Hotel Maya at 3.40pm to check this out.
Upon reaching the hotel on Jalan Ampang and seeing the crowd, he went to the vicinity of the camera that took the first footage to monitor the situation and direct security efforts.
He did not hear any gunshots, Kalaikumar said, nor did he "smell anything unpleasant", and described the water coming out of the water cannon trucks as akin to "drooling; without power".
The inquest before coroner Zulkpli Abdullah continues on Monday.
View Comments0