Bandar Seri Begawan - The defence lawyer in an assault case involving two well-known personalities yesterday questioned the credibility of the charge made by the defendant's wife of 18 years, Siti Mariam Isa, during the cross-examination.

He also claimed that the alleged cigarette butt incident was an accident that took place under the influence of alcohol at the couple's poolside terrace.

Defence Counsel Yusof Halim from Messrs Cheok Sankaran Halim was representing Ivica @ Adam Klebic.

Yusof asked Siti Mariam whether she was having dinner that night with her three children, her daughter's friend Fedora Chong and husband, and whether they had their usual gin and tonic before dinner, leading her to be "drunk by midnight".

Siti Mariam denied all accusations, saying she was unsure of the details of dinner, but they did not drink and she never sat next to her husband at the poolside that night.

Counsel Yusof then asked whether she was angry sitting beside her husband because he did not want to grant her a divorce. This led to her shouting at him to leave and scratched Ivica's forearm, which he was holding his cigarette, leading to a reflex action where Ivica swung his hand into Siti Mariam's left cheek, the defence counsel said.

"After that, you stood up and threw red wine on his face," the defence lawyer said, adding that the maids had to wash the red wine on Ivica's shirt the next day and clean a stain of red wine on the wall behind where they were sitting.

She replied: "I have no knowledge of his shirt" and "no idea" about the wall stains.

The defence also brought up a report lodged by Siti Mariam Isa dated November 7, 2005, to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, where she described: "When I stood up, my husband pushed me down then I fell and he kicked me until my face, neck, both shoulders, arms, body and legs were bruised."

Siti Mariam claimed that some information was "lost in translation" and disagreed on the report and saying how lawyers may have made a mistake.

Yusof accused Siti Mariam of making changes to the second paragraph of the report and date on December 7, 2005, but did not change any details in the third paragraph where she described the attack.

The plaintiff responded by saying she did not recall what was done to the report and whether changes were done.

Counsel Yusof also claimed that during Siti Mariam's visit to Dr Ivor J Lim, a consultant plastic surgeon from Singapore, she did not mention how her face was stinging due to the burning ash, but only sought treatment for the alleged stubbed cigarette on her left cheek and consulted the doctor about other issues.

"My skin had already improved by June 15 (the alleged attack took place on June 11, 2005) and even the wound had improved slightly which allowed me to consult the doctor about other matters," Siti Mariam responded.

Defence Counsel Yusof accused her of telling a lie as he summed up how she described the episode as a "frenzied attack" but still failed to point out the attacks in her report mentioned earlier.

During the cross-examination, the defence lawyer also produced letters written by Siti Mariam, where he said it indicated how the plaintiff tried to deport the defendant or stop him from reentering Brunei.

"Early 2004, you wrote a letter to the immigration authority of Brunei to notify them of how your husband is suffering from Hepatitis B, was this an attempt to deport him on grounds that he suffered from the Hepatitis B?" Yusof questioned.

She answered that she was trying to find out whether Ivica was lying to her about it and whether he had lied to the immigration as well.

The defence also produced a letter written by Siti Mariam under the company name 'Danieli Trading' which she owns, saying that Ivica's working permit had expired while he was in Croatia for summer.

"We regret to inform you that your employment with us will not be renewed and multiple-entry visa would be terminated," said a segment of the letter, which also accused him of gross mismanagement and corruption along with a warning of a criminal activity investigation.

Before that, Siti Mariam asked Ivica to send his passport back to Brunei for his employment pass to be renewed, which again prompted the defence's accusation of her attempt to prevent her husband from re-entering the country and again on November 17 she sent her husband another letter through Danieli Trading. She denied all accusations pointed out by the defence lawyer.

"Are you suggesting this is a transfer of working pass from Danieli to Fratini's Restaurant (run by Ivica)? I put to you, you have absolutely no care for your husband and the father of your four children to remain in Brunei," said the defence lawyer, but was quickly denied by the plaintiff.

Siti Mariam also rejected the defence's allegations that she told a friend (Fabjan) from Croatia that she was going to make Ivica leave the country.

"You, along with your sisters brought Fabjan to record a statement, but there was no statement in the end," Counsel Yusof said in response to the plaintiff saying that Fabjan volunteered to do a statement. Hearing continues on Saturday.

-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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