Football critic attacked at petrol station, left with fractured eye socket

 

A football critic and YouTuber suffered serious injuries, including a fractured eye socket, after he was brutally assaulted by two unidentified men at a petrol station near Bandar Sri Damansara last Saturday.

The victim, Joe Zakaria, posted a video of the attack on X.

Petaling Jaya district police chief Shamsudin Mamat said preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was inflating his vehicle’s tyres when he was approached by two men riding a motorcycle with an unidentifiable registration number.

“The suspects assaulted the victim repeatedly before recording a video of the incident and fleeing the scene.

“As a result of the incident, the victim suffered a fractured eye socket and several other injuries,” he was reported as saying.

Shamsudin said police had yet to establish the motive behind the attack, while efforts to identify and track down the two suspects were ongoing.

“The case is being investigated under Section 325 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

“Those with information related to the incident are urged to come forward at the nearest police station or contact investigating officer Danish Noor Azri at 013-6201412 to assist with investigations,” he said.

He also advised the public against making statements or sharing any materials related to the incident on any platform, warning that such actions could jeopardise police investigations.

Not without precedent

The assault bears similarities to another attack on a sports journalist last November, when two men assaulted veteran football writer Haresh Deol in broad daylight in Kuala Lumpur while a third person filmed the incident.

At the time, Haresh, who co-founded sports news website Twentytwo13, was reporting on the national football team’s naturalisation scandal.

Haresh Deol

In January this year, the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court fined a 37-year-old man RM2,000 in connection with the attack on Haresh, while the other two suspects remain at large.

Haresh had also rejected claims by police that the assault was motivated by a “personal issue”. - Mkini