Lawyer lodges report over second SD

Lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu has lodged a police report to clear his name, saying that “elements of criminal defamation” had been directed at him.

This was in relation to the second statutory declaration by private investigator P Balasubramaniam, who claimed that he was under duress when he made his first sworn statement.After lodging his report at the Brickfields police station today, Americk (in red tie) told reporters: “It is implied it was I who made him record the statement under duress. Therefore I have to clear my name.”

In the report, he said he had acted in good faith by documenting Balasubramaniam’s words, when producing the first statutory declaration dated July 1. It was made public two days later.

“I am satisfied it was made voluntarily and without any duress whatsoever,” Americk said in the report. '100 percent sure'It further said Americk had “reasonable grounds” to believe that the second statutory declaration on July 4 was suspect and that Balasubramaniam might have been “induced and threatened”.

To a question, Americk said he was “100 percent sure” and has no doubts about the veracity of the information that Balasubramaniam had provided him. “Balasubramaniam should be the one to explain why he retracted his statement,” said the lawyer.

The second statutory declaration was made with the help of a different lawyer. It removed several of the stronger allegations against deputy premier Najib Abdul Razak, implicating him in the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Balasubramaniam and his family have since gone missing, while Najib has denied all the allegations.The police are looking Balasubramaniam and have roped in government agencies as well as Interpol to locate him. It is suspected that he may be abroad by now