At 8:11:93 before DSN answered “Ya….” He shook his head and modified it to be a head node. This is the typical cue of deception because his nonverbal showed inconsistency with his verbal communication.
DSN became more nervous between 8:24:67 and 8:25:77 because we could observe clearly that he repeatedly applied finger rubbing during the interview. His gestures showed that as if he was challenging the public if action could be taken against him. In addition, he was still very confident he would be okay with the charges.
During 8:37, DSN leaned forward and backwards with the close lips smile when he recommended the public to not only focus on Jho Low but to get others who are involved in the activities because it involved international figures that should be questioned and investigated. However, during 8:39, DSN moved his body slightly and could be obviously seen from his shoulder. From this nonverbal cue, it indicated that he had disbeliefs towards his own statement. The statement was given with the objective to deceive the analyst to increase the scope of the investigation.
You may compare the pictures captured when discussing on different issues. The first picture was captured when he was discussing on the promises of the 7:17. When he was confronted on the source of money that was benefited by DSN during 8:53, you can observe that he was angry and it was clearly seen on his forehead.
The anger of DSN increased by 9:41 when he was trying to defend himself on the topic of the gift received. He even applied the palm down to control the situation and to stop the interviewer from interrupting.
He was continuously attacked with the source of money to purchase the pink diamond. He was trying to explain, but the facial expression of the interviewer triggered his anger that was clearly shown – 10:42 when his eyebrows were pulled to the nostril muscle.
When answering the question about the purchase of a diamond, he rubbed his fingers continuously between 10:39:63 – 10:40:87 slowly. This showed that he felt relieved and satisfied towards his answer and he strongly believed that the interviewer would buy in the answer. However, he still felt some inner fear when answering these questions. As a result, he tried to hide his inconsistency through hand rubbing gesture.
During 11:22 he took a deep breath when he was listening to the explanation that he should know the value of the jewellery.
Reviewing the same scene again, when he was giving a statement, there was some truth in the statement, “It was presented as a gift” during 10:34 in the video. However, between the duration of 11:07:27 and 11:08:87, DSN nodded his head. This is another body language leak that needed further investigation that he knew about the value of the jewellery. Another significant body language leak that DSN might know the value of the diamond because during 11:23:17, when he answered, “I really do not know …”, before the start of the statement, he nodded his head and followed by the shaking of his head that showed the consistency of the statement. It was a cue of deception.
DSN further explained about “knowing” of the value of the diamond. From between 11:29:53 to 11:35:37, DSN didn’t have any eye contact with the interviewer. In nonverbal communication, this could be explained by the concept of look away or eye avoidance. When a person feels guilty or want to avoid the topic, the best method is to apply the look away.
When DSN explained the statement, “as the head of the government, we received the expensive gift….” This statement is genuine and true. We could observe that he started to feel comfortable and the movement of the hand became natural. The statement between 11:40 – 11: 57 were true and there was no element of deception.
The statement that was given until 12:23 – 12:30, he said, according to the knowledge he had, he didn’t hide or conceal any information during this period. However, he felt stressed to keep on being questioned on this topic. We could observe that he licked his lips during 12:23:83.
The statement that was given until 12:23 – 12:30, he said, according to the knowledge he had, he didn’t hide or conceal any information during this period. However, he felt stressed to keep on being questioned on this topic. We could observe that he licked his lips during 12:23:83.
When he was being questioned about his son’s investments and lifestyle, the statement of “do not know” caused the anger of the interviewer. He further explained that he did not know the source of the loan.
During this statement, as a nonverbal analyst, we could not confirm any cues of deception. However, we could observe that his stress level had increased and he licked his lips again by 16:07:60. Could the stress level increase due to story creation or DSN really felt stressed with the duration of the interview? According to nonverbal theory, when lying, people tend to experience severe dry mouth. As a result, they may frequently lick their lips. However, we could not confirm if any deception was involved in this statement.
DSN felt annoyed when the interviewer did not focus on the topic that should be discussed such as on the development of the national economy.
He applied his palm down to stop the questions from the interviewer during 16:53:47. The interviewer changed topics and asked about other allegations towards him, especially in the case of Altantuya.
During 18:42:13, he raised up his voice with anger to repeat the statement denying his involvement in the murder case.
After completing the statement, his anger subsided within 6 seconds. A real anger and agony would normally last long. Since the angry emotion could be subsided within 6 seconds, it is something that needed further investigation. Anger and tears were two important weapons applied in deception.
DSN applied the palm down instruction method when he mentioned, “I am absolutely innocent about Altantuya’s case”. However, can you see a change of nonverbal gesture of his hand? Let’s do a comparison between three pictures in different timing during the interview.
The baselining of DSN in term of his palms, there was a gap between his fingers when he communicated with others. However, when he was mentioning about the statement, “I am absolutely innocent about the Altantuya’s case” his palm gesture changed. It showed that there was a sign of a change of emotion. Further investigation is needed to study this statement. In nonverbal, it is known as the red flag of communication.
DSN stood up and wanted to walk out of the room after requesting the interviewer (for the second time) to focus on the topics of the nation’s economy. From 20:02 – 20:40, DSN felt confident and proud towards the previous government’s contribution.
The interviewer continued to bring up the topics on Jho Low and 1MDB. DSN just felt annoyed and walked out of the room.
