KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh withdrew at the last minute from rebutting allegations made against him by Hassnar Ebrahim at the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah yesterday.
Harris, who had previously testified before the RCI at the Kota Kinabalu High Court, was supposed to be the second witness of the day and had been recalled to respond to allegations made by Hassnar, who is the former Sandakan district chief.
However, shortly after Hassnar had been allowed to step down from the witness stand by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, conducting officer Manoj Kurup informed the panel that Harris had declined to rebut the allegations.
“The witness has informed me that he will not be rebutting Hassnar’s testimony,” Manoj said.
In his testimony earlier, Hassnar had implicated Harris in the issuance of identity cards to illegal immigrants in Sabah.
It had been a busy morning at the Kota Kinabalu High Court over the past two days with the likes of former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan giving his testimony on Thursday, followed by Hassnar.
Harris had also been spotted arriving yesterday morning, entering the waiting room for RCI witnesses. He had testified before the RCI in January this year and denied the existence of Project IC.
The RCI session ended yesterday after only two days with Shim announcing that the next session would begin on September 9. A total of 202 witnesses have testified before the RCI since it began.