Navy officer denies he sat on deceased cadet during training session

IPOH: A Navy officer has denied sitting on the late cadet officer J. Soosaimanicckam and assaulting him, the Coroner's Court here heard.

Abdul Ariff Abdul Halim, 28, who at that time held the rank of Lt Muda, said he only "patted" the cadet on his shoulder to encourage him to continue training.

He said this before Sessions Court Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad, who is the coroner at the inquest.

Evangelin Simon Silvaraj, who is acting for the government, then said a former cadet had testified that he saw Abdul Ariff not only sitting on the deceased but assaulting him as well, resulting in bruises on the deceased.

"Not only that, the witness also said you acted aggressively towards Soosaimanicckam and picked on him often," Evangelin said.

Abdul Ariff denied this and said he merely patted the shoulder of the deceased as he refused to get up mid-training and continued lying on the grass.

The inquest seeks to find out the cause of Soosaimanicckam's death during his training at a naval base on May 19, 2018, a week after reporting for duty on May 12.

Soosaimanicckam was pronounced dead at the Lumut Armed Forces Hospital.

When asked by Zaid Abd Malek, who is representing Soosaimanicckam's family, to describe the condition of the deceased during the incident, Abdul Ariff said he was lying face down on the grass.

"I tapped him on his shoulders and when he refused to get up, I had to turn him over and shouted at him. Since he was unable to continue training, I just left him there as the session was nearly over," he said.

When lawyer Cheang Lek Choy, who is holding a watching brief for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), asked if he noticed any wounds on the deceased, Abdul Ariff said he could not remember.

Cheang then showed Abdul Ariff photos of Soosaimanicckam's injuries.

After looking at the photos, Abdul Ariff then said he noticed wounds on the deceased's elbows after patting him on his shoulders.

Lt Nur Suhana Kasim Bakri, who was called to the stand again four years after her last testimony in November 2019, said she could not find the log book the court had asked her to submit.

"I am unable to find the log book," she replied when Evangelin asked why she did not have the document with her.

Another lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, then asked what happened to the WhatsApp messages on the chronology of events that day.

Suhana said she was not aware that she had to bring a copy of the printed-out messages.

Mahajoth then read out part of the transcript of her testimony in 2019 specifically referring to the WhatsApp messages, which showed Nur Suhana had agreed to bring the document.

Nur Suhana, who was the course planning officer when the incident happened, then said she needed to look for the WhatsApp message.

"I am no longer using the same mobile phone and I am not sure if there is a backup. I need to look for it," she added.

Ainul Shahrin ordered Nur Suhana to look for the WhatsApp chat between her and her superior and to inform the court once she had located it.

Cheang told Nur Suhana that she had to respect the court and follow orders given by the judge or she could be cited for contempt.

"We are trying to understand what happened that day leading to the death of the cadet.

"You come to court and give answers such as 'I don't know' and 'I don't remember' when the order was clear for you to bring the documents, which are very important indeed," he said.