On Tuesday August 4th, Home Minister, Dato Seri Hamzah Zainudin informed Parliament that police will take actions in relation to the "murder" of firefighter Muhammad Adib. Taken from The Sun below:
The investigation paper (IP) on the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim (pix) had been referred back to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on July 23 along with several suggestions, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the IP, among other things, suggested for 12 suspects who were previously believed of being involved in Adib’s death on Dec 17, 2018, to be charged under Section 143 of the Penal Code.
Hamzah received applause from other members. Saved for expected resistance from Indian MPs in the opposition, it appeared as though the long arms of the law have found its way to the alleged murderers.
Upon reflection, it is no big deal and seemed a whitewash or sheer wayang.
The reaction of the father will naturally be cynical and be first to react to anything less than the murderers are taken to justice. Muslim NGOs like PEMBELA have been vocal and consistently in pursuit to demand Justice4Adib and supportive of the father.
A lawyer and activist, Aidil Khalid immediately see through the whitewash to write in Malay on his Facebook, reproduced verbatim below:
Ada banyak masalah dengan kenyataan Menteri Dalam Negeri ini.Dia kata kerajaan bercadang mendakwa semula 12 suspek bunuh Adib. Tetapi pendakwaan akan dibuat di bawah seksyen 143 Kanun Keseksaan, dan bukan di bawah pertuduhan membunuh.Seksyen 143 ialah kesalahan kecil, yang hukuman maksimumnya hanya denda sahaja, atau penjara paling lama pun cuma boleh 6 bulan, tak boleh lebih.Kau bayangkan, nyawa seorang pegawai bomba berbangsa Melayu beragama Islam melayang dibunuh dalam rusuhan di Kuil Hindu, dan kau nak cadangkan hukum denda atau penjara 6 bulan sahaja?Ini namanya pendakwaan tebuk atap, kerja sekadar melepaskan batuk di tangga, tidak bersungguh-sungguh, dengan harapan rakyat tak sedar dan bodoh tak faham, akan berpuas hati, “almahdulillah syukur perdana menteri pandai baca doa di tv, alhamdulillah, takbirrrrRrrrr, takbirrrRrrrr, akhirnya pendakwaan dibuat terhadap pembunuh Adib.”Walhal pendakwaan bukan pun atas kesalahan membunuh.Masalah kedua pula ialah Menteri kata kerajaan bercadang untuk buka semula inkues — bermaksud kerajaan tak setuju dengan keputusan inkues sebelum ini, maka perlu inkues sekali lagi.Tapi jika dibaca seksyen 339(2) Kanun Acara Jenayah, bahagian provisonya sangat jelas, bahawa apabila sesuatu inkues itu telah dijalankan oleh Mahkamah Koroner, dan keputusannya mendapati punca kematian adalah berakibat daripada berlakunya jenayah bunuh, maka keputusan itu adalah muktamad. Jadi kerajaan tidak boleh nak buat inkues semula, sebaliknya kerajaan mesti akur dan patuh dengan keputusan Mahkamah Koroner sebelum ini, yang menegaskan bahawa Adib mati dibunuh.Jika kerajaan tidak bersetuju, maka kerajaan hanya boleh cabar keputusan Mahkamah Koroner itu melalui prosiding Semakan Kehakiman (judicial review). Tetapi Semakan Kehakiman hanya boleh difailkan dalam tempoh 3 bulan dari tarikh keputusan sahaja.Kerajaan tidak pernah memfailkan sebarang permohonan untuk semakan kehakiman, dan tempoh 3 bulan itu pun telah lama luput; maka sebab itu hasil dapatan inkues yang memutuskan bahawa Adib mati dibunuh, dan mengarahkan PDRM untuk mencari para pembunuhnya, adalah muktamad, dan mesti dihormati serta dipatuhi oleh semua.
Bacaan lanjut:
Adil had earlier criticised IGP, Tan Sri Hamid Bador for claiming Adib was not murdered because no witness to say he was murdered. Police sources said the same during the height of the Seaview temple incident.
However, Aidil violently disagree. Just because it is claimed no one saw the murder act, it does not imply Adib was not murdered.
The young lawyer quoted the murder of Sosilawati, in which the judgement on the murderers were recently made. There was no eyewitness at the crime scene. Its called circumstantial evidence.
He said Hamid Bador should read the Coroner report from the Inquest held at the request of former AG, Tommy Thomas. It means there are circumstantial evidence for the police to investigate and scour for more evidence.
The career special branch officer must differentiate between evidence-based criminal cases and information-based security case. Eyewitness is not the only source of evidence. Since Tommy Thomas seemed to cover-up any wrongdoings by committee of Seaview Hindu temple, is the IGP colluding to cover-up too?
Immediately after the incident, the attempt to cover-up was too obvious. The Inquest was a time wasting effort by Tommy, who as AG is conflicted and had represented the interest of the questionable legality of the Hindu temple in negotiations with developer.
The developer agreed to allocate another piece of land for relocation and paid compensation. However, the temple committee took the money and land, but still insistent on staying put.
Adil wrote a good background of the incident in his late June FB posting, including the sacking of lawyer Syahzlin Mansor from representing KPKT by Tommy.
He demanded on the politics-evading new AG, Tan Sri Idrus Haron to not be soft:
16. Amatlah malang, kerana walaupun setelah berlaku perubahan tampuk pimpinan negara, dan Tommy Thomas disingkirkan serta digantikan dengan Peguam Negara baharu, tetapi ternyata Peguam Negara baharu masih mengekalkan pendirian, keputusan dan tindak tanduk lama Tommy Thomas dahulu. Justeru terserah kepada kita kini, untuk menilai secara adil dan munasabah: adakah mereka yang dahulunya begitu lantang memperjuangkan keadilan untuk arwah Adib, benar-benar memperjuangkannya demi keadilan, ataukah sekadar menunggangnya untuk kepentingan politik, dan setelah mereka dapat apa yang mereka kehendaki, maka kuda tunggangan itu pun mereka tinggalkan?
There are issues the views of young Aidil may not be in tandem with popular views, but on this, he is spot on.
That is the MRSM spirit! Its the sense of independence, strong willed and fighter for causes deemed to be the truth and pursuit of justice. It beats the fishy MCOBA civil judge turned criminal judge that was given a big case as his first and fumbled it big time.