Lawyer: Second SD was probably made under duress - The Star

By Shahanaaz Habib

KUALA LUMPUR: Americk Singh Sidhu, the lawyer who had prepared the first statutory declaration for private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, is convinced his client was intimidated to retract his declaration.

He believed the private eye had been coerced “by either threats or promises as I can think of no other reason”.

Balasubramaniam's first statutory declaration which he made public on Thursday in a press conference with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alleged that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had had a sexual relationship with Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Balasubramaniam had said the police had omitted vital information about Najib's relationship with the murdered Mongolian translator.

Speaking at a press conference at the PKR headquarters yesterday, Americk Singh said his client had made the first statutory declaration voluntarily without duress.

He said he had first met Balasubramaniam two months ago at a restaurant where he was asked to help draft a formal document on the Altantuya case.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/5/nation/21748837&sec=nation]