Scrutiny no threat to justice, lawyers chide AGC over police shooting

 Lawyers for the families of three men fatally shot by police in Durian Tunggal, Malacca, have slammed the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for urging the public not to speculate on the incident.

In a strongly worded statement today, lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh labelled the AGC’s call as ill-judged, internally inconsistent, and emblematic of an institutional reflex to silence scrutiny rather than confront uncomfortable truths.

They also reminded the AGC that while justice is not threatened by public debate, such rights are put at risk when institutions become “defensive, opaque, and hostile” to the very scrutiny that “forced it to get the law right”.

“If the AGC truly stands for the rule of law, it should engage the public with candour and humility, not retreat behind platitudes.

“The repeated refrain that the public should ‘not speculate’ is patronising, unwelcoming, and suggests that citizen engagement is a nuisance rather than a safeguard. (Such) posture erodes confidence far more than any public discussion ever could,” they added.

Rajesh Nagarajan

Earlier today, the AGC warned that assumptions or the dissemination of unverified information could undermine the investigation and erode public confidence in the justice system.

It noted that the integrity of the investigation must be preserved as the probe by a special team in Bukit Aman is still ongoing.

Shot dead after ‘machete attack’

The incident occurred on Nov 24, when three men, aged 24 to 29, were shot dead at an oil palm plantation in Durian Tunggal at about 4.30am after one of them allegedly swung a machete at a police officer, with police claiming that the corporal sustained serious injuries on his left arm. 

However, on Dec 3, the family members of the three men denied the allegations that the victims had acted violently against the police, asserting instead that their deaths had elements of an “execution-style killing”. 

Rajesh and Sachpreetraj today highlighted that it was only after sustained public pressure, widespread debate, and “justified outrage” that the investigation into the trio’s deaths was reclassified as a murder probe under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

They argued that the case’s initial classification of attempted murder under Section 307 of the same legislation “made no sense whatsoever” as the three men were already dead, pointing out that “attempt presupposes survival (while) death negates attempt”. 

“That initial legal framing was not merely questionable - it was legally incoherent. To now admonish the public against ‘speculation’ is therefore deeply disingenuous.

“Public scrutiny did not obstruct justice; it corrected an obvious and serious misclassification. Had the public remained silent, the Section 307 fiction would have persisted,” the lawyers said.

AGC should have admitted it was wrong

They also emphasised that the AGC is not in the business of protecting wrongdoers, even when such alleged offenders are police officers, particularly at a time when court proceedings have not commenced.

“(The AGC’s) constitutional duty is to uphold the rule of law without fear or favour, not to discourage public discussion when state power is implicated in the loss of life.

“The AGC’s warning is all the more irrational because there is no issue of subjudice whatsoever. There are no ongoing court proceedings, no trial before a judge, and no judicial order restricting discussion,” they said. 

As such, they said that instead of “admonishing” the public, the AGC should have acknowledged that the initial Section 307 classification was unsustainable and recognised that public discourse played a decisive role in restoring legal coherence. 

They also called on the AGC to reaffirm that no institution, including the police, is insulated from scrutiny.

“In a constitutional democracy, the public is entitled to question how and why an incident involving multiple deaths at the hands of law enforcement was initially framed as an ‘attempt’ rather than a homicide.

“That is not speculation - that is accountability,” they added.  - Mkini