ACCUSED DENIES MAKING UP ACCUSATIONS
S. Ravi Chandaran disagrees with prosecution that he was in a ‘desperate situation’
THE seventh accused in the murder trial of deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais yesterday denied that the testimony he gave during defence proceedings at the High Court here were lies or made up.
S. Ravi Chandaran, 47, who is also the sixth defence witness, disagreed that he was in a “desperate situation” by dragging a lawyer and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak into the case.
Ravi Chandaran said this during cross examination by DPP Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin on the 25th day of defence proceedings yesterday.
Wan Shaharuddin: You were arrested on Sept 15, 2015? On the way back to your hometown (in Kedah)?
Ravi Chandaran: Yes.
Wan Shaharuddin: When arrested, all the police asked was about this (murder) incident? Ravi Chandaran: Yes.
Wan Shaharuddin: If you wanted to tell something, it was the earliest chance you had (to tell the real story).
Ravi Chandaran: Yes.
Wan Shaharuddin: Did you reveal everything to the police?
Ravi Chandaran: No, I did not mention a lot of things.
Wan Shaharuddin: You did not mention a lot of things because the things you said in court were lies and made up stories.
Ravi Chandaran: I disagree. Wan Shaharuddin: If you’re innocent, you had a chance to tell everything on Sept 15.
Ravi Chandaran: I disagree. Wan Shaharuddin: By everything, I mean the events surrounding the murder of Kevin Morais, the involvement of the lawyer representing the first accused and Datuk Seri Najib. You did not reveal this (earlier) because the things you told the court did not happen.
Ravi Chandaran: I disagree. Wan Shaharuddin: You are now desperate to drag just about anyone with you (into the case), for you’re actually the mastermind, along with (pathologist) Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, in the murder of Kevin Morais, so much so you were willing to implicate lawyers (Datuk) N. Sivananthan and (Datuk) Geethan (Ram Vincent). Ravi Chandaran: I disagree. The accused also disagreed with Wan Shaharuddin’s suggestion that the four other accused — R. Dinishwaran, A.K. Thinesh Kumar, M. Vishwanath and S. Nimalan — were the henchmen of Dr Kunaseegaran and himself.
In a previous proceeding, Ravi Chandaran said he had lodged a police report claiming that Najib offered him RM3.5 million through prison officials for him to plead guilty to killing Kevin Morais.
In the report, he claimed that Kevin Morais’ brother, Datuk Richard Morais, had offered him RM2 million for the same purpose. In court, during his testimony, he said Dr Kunaseegaran had offered RM1.5 million to plead guilty as well.
Dinishwaran, 26, Thinesh Kumar, 25, Vishwanath, 28, Nimalan, 25, Ravi Chandaran and Dr Kunaseegaran, 55, all pleaded not guilty to the charge of killing Kevin Morais while he was on the way from Jalan Dutamas 1, Sentul, to No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm, on Sept 4, 2015, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same act, which carries the mandatory death sentence, if convicted.
Dinishwaran, Thinesh Kumar, Vishwanath, Nimalan and Ravi Chandaran were represented by lawyer V. Rajehgopal, while Dr Kunaseegaran was represented by counsel Sivananthan. The prosecution was led by DPP Saiful Edris Zainuddin.
The trial before judge Datuk Azman Abdullah continues on Oct 26.