Sosilawati murder: Suspect taken to law firm

September 21, 2010

BANTING, Sept 21 The lawyer who is a suspect in the murders of cosmetics queen Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three others was today taken to his law firm here for a second time since his arrest over a week ago. The 41-year-old man, wearing purple lock-up attire, was taken to the premises by a team of policemen at 2.25pm. About 35 minutes later, two women, believed to be staff at the law firm, were seen coming out of the office, holding several documents. The suspect was taken out of the office at 3.05pm and was whisked away in a Proton Waja police car. A policeman was also seen coming out of the office, holding several files. The man was later taken to a sluice at Kampung Sungai Lang here, about 3km from the his office, where Marine Operations Force members are scouring the river for new leads. Sosilawati, 47, her driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohammad, 38, went missing on August 30 after they went to Banting in Selangor over a land deal. Police found out that the four were killed, their bodies burnt and the ashes thrown into rivers near Ladang Gadong, Tanjung Sepat, near here. Police arrested the man and seven others, including the mans younger brother, also a lawyer, in connection with the case. On September 14, police searched the law firm and took documents and computers. Previous reports indicated that the law firm was the last location the four victims were seen alive. Meanwhile, the Bar Council said the certificates in legal practice for the two lawyers had been suspended and that the two were disbarred on November 5 last year. Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur that the move was taken following investigation on their alleged misconduct. The two had filed an appeal to the High Court here for a stay of the suspension order. Following the stay, they continued practising law but their memberships with the Bar Council have been cancelled, he said, adding that lawyers found to have misappropriated their clients account, involved in corruption and other serious offences would have their licences cancelled. Thirty lawyers had their licences revoked since the past five years, he added. He described the figure as negligible because it only affected 0.02 per cent of the councils members but said that the council took seriously any report of misconduct among its members. He extended condolences to the victims families including the family of council member Ahmad Kamil, one of the murdered victims. Ragunath reminded the people not to be too quick to pass judgment over the case. He said they should also carry out checks on the credentials of lawyers through the Bar Councils website before engaging them. Bernama