Glenmarie case: Surendran to unveil "shocking" new evidence of police murder

Shocking new evidence has emerged showing that police had "deliberately murdered" a 15-year old boy and two other youths after an alleged reported high-speed car chase in Selangor last year.

Human rights lawyer N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle that post-mortem reports and other material will be made public on Thursday .A press conference will be held at 11am in the PKR headquarters in Tropicana, Petaling Jaya.

"It will prove what the families have claimed all along, that the police version of how the boys died is a lie to cover up for themselves," said Surendran, who is also a PKR vice president.

My son was a good boy, not Geng Minyak

Shamil Hafiz Shafie, 15, Mohd Khairul Nizam Tuah, 20, and Mohd Hanafi Omar, 22, on November 13 were shot dead in the wee hours of November 13 in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, after they allegedly charged at the police with parangs or machetes.

The police also alleged that the three youths were “seasoned criminals” and part of the notorious Geng Minyak – a group of robbers who prey on petrol kiosks.

Their families have disputed this. “My son was a good boy who went for religious classes,” Shamil's mother Norhafizah had told the press.

So far, the families have lodged a police report against the officers involved, demanded an apology for slandering their dead children as criminals, appealed to Prime Minister Najib Razak to take action and plan to demand for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

But despite public outrage, no action has been taken by the authorities so far.

Disturbing similarity

According to Surendran, all three youths were shot in the head and chest with bullets "exiting lower”.

“This shows the shots were fired at close range, which is inconsistent that the shots were fired in self-defence,” Surendran had said.

The trajectory of the bullets on Hairul’s body indicated that his shooter had shot him from a higher position, the lawyet added.

“This indicates that the victims were kneeling. Hairul also had a black eye. Shamil was shot directly in the centre of his forehead. The families want the policemen suspended and charged for the offence of murder. This was blue murder by the police,” said Surendran.

Violent and horrifying though the Glenmarie shootings were, these are but the tip of the iceberg. There have been dozens of cases of custodial deaths and suspicious shootings by Malaysian cops.

Despite public pressure, they have resisted the formation of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

According to Lawyers for Liberty, international policing norms require that firearms only be discharged to protect life and that clear warnings be given with adequate time to comply.

“We note that there is disturbing similarity in the justification given out by police after almost every fatal police shooting in recent memory. In almost all cases, police claim that the suspects fled and police gave chase. The suspects then attacked police and the police opened fire killing all instantly," said the legal rights pressure group.

"No suspect in such situations ever seems to survive. Subsequent to the shooting police claim to have discovered weapons in their vehicle and accuse the dead of being involved in all sorts of crime. Of course, by then none of them can defend themselves.”

- Malaysia Chronicle