Further probe into firefighter’s death will cause trust deficit, says lawyer

 

Firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim died from injuries he sustained while responding to a riot near the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya in 2018. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has cautioned Putrajaya that further investigation into the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim will cause a trust deficit in the eyes of the public.

“Unless there are overwhelming omissions and/or hard evidence of obvious bias, a second follow-up ‘inquest’ and its findings may cause further credibility degradation,” SN Nair said.

He said it also undermined the findings of the original pathologist and the department concerned.

“It sets a bad precedent for future inquiries when similar demands will be made by dissatisfied parties with no finality,” he said.

SN Nair.

Nair said after a lapse of time, however senior a pathologist may be,  it is highly unlikely to alter any of the earlier findings except perhaps personal opinions in conflict of the original opinions “for ostensible appeasement”.

He said this in response to a report that a special committee set up to look into Adib’s death had decided to appoint a senior pathologist to assist in the investigation.

Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who chairs the committee, said the pathologist would conduct a thorough investigation to examine the decision made by the coroner’s court, the police and other areas related to Adib’s death.

The other members of the committee, announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday, include home minister Hamzah Zainudin, housing and local government minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican, attorney-general Idrus Harun and inspector-general of police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.

Nair said the committee “is a duplicity” and its exercise of power “akin to the usurpation and undermining of the absolute power of the attorney-general in his capacity as public prosecutor”.

He said Idrus should reveal the outcome of a police investigation conducted after coroner Rofiah Mohamad ruled in September 2019 that “more than two unidentified persons” had killed Adib, 24, who succumbed to injuries he sustained while responding to a riot near the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya on Nov 27, 2018.

Rofiah accepted the theory presented by senior consultant forensic pathologist Dr Shahrom Abd Wahid that Adib died due to injuries caused by blunt force trauma after being dragged out of his Emergency Services Assistance Unit (EMRS) van.

The court also rejected the calculation in ascertaining the force of the impact used by Hospital Kuala Lumpur forensic expert Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi. - FMT