A BASIC PRINCIPLE

Although this article is on a serious matter, Clause 24 of the DNA Bill, I will begin on a light note that is a pun and conclude with yet another pun.

My cat has six toes on each foot. It's a rare mutation that led me to name my cat Claws 24.

Now for the serious stuff. A court is the appropriate forum, in fact the only forum, to challenge evidence in a trial. That's a basic principle.

Because of that, any ban on challenging evidence in court makes the court useless and irrelevant. The effect of such a ban is to make the court non-existent, because such ban makes possible conviction of an accused on evidence that contains an error, is fabricated or in fact even non-existent although claimed to exist.

Some problems with convicting an accused solely on the basis of DNA: DNA evidence can be easily contaminated with other DNA or damaged (the strands of DNA broken into smaller pieces) and it can even be fabricated, please refer to THIS LINK.


Clause 24 makes the DNA Bill a tool to convict anyone of anything, by claiming that there is DNA evidence of guilt of the accused.

Malaysia Today has a nice article AT THIS LINK about how a mistake can come back later with a painful bite:

Clause 24 may be such a mistake, a mistake that may come back to bite Najib and Rosmah.

Here is a way they may become bitten:

First, 2 facts:

Fact 1: Everywhere we go we are leaving samples of our DNA. The samples are small, but they can be amplified by a method called PCR, until there is sufficient DNA for testing.

Fact 2: When a woman is pregnant, some cells from the baby inside her circulate in her blood. Thus, cells from her baby can be found throughout her body, in any tissue where there is blood supply, including in her bones. Remember, it is in the bones, in the bone marrow, where blood is made. Those cells from the baby of course
contain DNA from both it's parents, including the father. Bones of Altantuya are in Mongolia and her father is a medical doctor, he would know who can extract DNA from her bones.

Taken together, those 2 facts potentially could lead to DNA of Najib being compared with DNA from the bones of Altantuya.

If there is a match, because of Clause 24, it would be conclusive evidence, not allowed to be challenged in any court, that Najib made Altantuya pregnant.

Even if the DNA match were to be totally fabricated or non-existent, it would still be impossible for Najib to challenge in any court, because of Clause 24.

Thus Najib, because of Clause 24, could be found, without any means to challenge the evidence, to have impregnated Altantuya, giving motive for Rosmah to want to kill Altantuya.

With motive to kill Altantuya and Rosmah being present at the place Altantuya was killed, her presence at the murder scene being claimed by both Bala's first SD and by RPK, presumably Rosmah wanted to be there to be confident that Altantuya was truly dead, Rosmah could be convicted of murder and sent to the gallows.

The long saga of the murder of Altantuya would thus finally conclude.

Malaysians might gain a new peribahasa (saying) from the sordid tale,
"It's not over until the fat lady hangs".

Written by Pakac Luteb