Contradiction in statement given by witness will benefit the teacher charged with UPSR leak

Contradicting statements will benefit teacher charged with UPSR leak

A former Malaysian Examination Syndicate director's statements in the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court today was contradictory to her testimony in the trial of another two teachers similarly charged and acquitted over a leaked UPSR examination papers' case. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 12, 2015.

A witness in the trial of a Perak school teacher charged with leaking UPSR examination papers has given contradictory statements to the court, counsel M. Kula Segaran said today.

The lawyer, who is representing teacher P. Uma Mageswari, 28, said former Malaysian Examination Syndicate director Dr Na'imah Ishak's statements in the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court today was contradictory to her testimony in the trial of another two teachers similarly charged and acquitted at the Seremban Sessions Court. Kula Segaran, who also represented the two other teachers in the Seremban court, said Na'imah, while being cross-examined by the defence today, said additional signatures were added to a booklet to record the classifying of a UPSR paper as secret under the Official Secrets Act.

But she told the court differently in the Seremban case, where she said the additional signatures were there because of amendments to the questions after the papers were sent to the printer, Kula Segaran said.

"This is a sharp U-turn from her answer in the Seremban court," the Ipoh Barat MP said today. He represented teachers Subbarau Kamalanathan and Murugan Palanisamy in the Seremban case. When asked about the contradictions, Kula Segaran said Na'imah revealed that she only remembered in April that she had given the wrong answer in the Seremban trial, which took place in March.

"She however, said that she has not gone to rectify her answers in the Seremban court to date." He added that Na'imah's contradictory statements would benefit Subbarau and Murugan in Seremban, whose acquittals are being appealed by the prosecution in High Court. Kula Segaran said he was now applying to impeach Na'imah's testimony for Uma's case in Kuala Kangsar, which is being presided by Judge Hassan Bakri.

"The judge said the matter would be decided at the end of the trial," the lawyer said. Uma is being charged under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) for being in possession of several pages of the Science paper in her Samsung Ace smartphone. She and her colleague, K. Anparasu, 50, were charged in November last year, under Section 8(1)(c)(iii) of the OSA, which provides a jail term of between one and seven years. Anparasu was slapped with three charges – being in possession of several pages of the Mathematics 1 and 2 and Science papers in his Samsung Trend smartphone.

They allegedly committed the offence between September 9 and 10 during the leak of several UPSR question papers. Both pleaded not guilty. Uma's trial hearing began on April 19 and will continue tomorrow. In April, Seremban Sessions Court judge Datuk Jagjit Singh had freed Subbarau and Murugan without their defense being called after the court found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the two. The contradiction in statement given by Dr. Naimah have benefit P. Uma Mageswari, 

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