The Adib case needs a political resolution as well

While the decision by the family of the late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim to resolve their legal action to commit former attorney-general Tommy Thomas for contempt of court is welcome, the case needs a final political resolution as well.

That case has courted considerable controversy over the years when Adib died during demonstrations around the Seafield temple where the Bomba had been called in to put out a fire.

Despite a coroner’s inquest which found that Adib died from a criminal act, previous and subsequent investigations found no evidence of that.

The coroner ruled in September 2019 that the blunt force trauma suffered on Adib’s chest was not self-inflicted nor caused by an accident during the November 2018 riot outside the Seafield temple in Subang Jaya.

“It was the result of a criminal act by two or three unidentified persons dragging (the victim out of the vehicle) and hitting the victim,” she said.

Perhaps the best account of what happened post those riots, whose origins were obscured by emotions in the wake of Adib’s death, comes from former attorney-general Tommy Thomas who held office during the period.

Thomas described the coroner’s decision as mind-boggling and that it defied police evidence. He said in his book that he decided against appealing the decision because her recommendation was merely that the police resume investigations.

In his book ‘My Story’ released in January 2021 in the chapter on ‘Adib and LTTE’, Thomas said: “According to him (the head of prosecution), after careful and thorough investigation, the police had ruled out foul play. Apparently, the injuries were suffered by Adib when the fire engine reversed, pushing backward the vehicle Adib was travelling in. Adib was trying to re-enter his car when he was pinned down. It was therefore an accident.

“No one was to blame. No crime had been committed. It followed that the police could not be expected to arrest any person for a non-existent crime. And that was the finding after many rounds of investigation by different police units.”

Coroner Rofiah Mohamad inspects the vehicle that Adib was in before he died

Adib succumbed to injuries and died on Dec 17, 2018. “Public baying for revenge was abhorrent. It was stoked by racists who proclaimed, without any evidence whatsoever, that Indians at large had murdered Adib. Nothing short of murder charges against some Indians would appease the mob,” Thomas wrote.

Thomas went on to say that it was against this background he decided to have an inquest.

“How she (the coroner) could reach this finding is mind-boggling, when the police with their experience, expertise, manpower and resources could not. The coroner was also specific: two or three persons. Why not one? Why not five or more? It was a bizarre decision, rightly criticised by many,” he said.

Playing politics

The current backdoor government took advantage of the situation, playing politics to the hilt, despite the weight of evidence against murder and the police being unable to uncover new evidence after re-investigation following the coroner’s decision.

In October last year, the prime minister announced the formation of three task forces, one of which was to investigate the so-called unsolved death of the firefighter to be headed by de facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

"The special committee will ensure a thorough and transparent investigation as well as appropriate action in Adib's death," he added. As if the repeated police investigations were not enough.

Other members of the committee included Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin, Housing and Local Government Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican and Attorney-General Idrus Harun. The Fire and Rescue Department falls under the Housing and Local Government Ministry while the police come under Hamzah's jurisdiction.

If anyone expects these people to add value to the investigation after serious probes by the police found no new evidence to prosecute others, they are going to be sorely disappointed.

Protest in Putrajaya in the wake of Adib’s death

A month after this, in November last year, Putrajaya announced the appointment of a special panel to help in investigations.

The line-up included experts such as senior consultant forensic pathologist Dr JS Bhupinder Singh, criminologist MP Sundramoorthy, former appeals court judge Kamardin Hashim, and Universiti Malaya histopathologist Prof Dr Looi Lai Meng.

This puts a different complexion on the task force whose monolithic composition of politicians from one particular race, and an attorney-general who has shown himself to be pro-government probably raised too many eyebrows. But still, there is no new evidence.

At the end of the day, the people who are keeping the Adib issue needlessly contentious are the people in power currently - read Umno. It’s their modus operandi - maximise racial issues to stay in power, never mind the deep divides it causes within society. So long as they stayed in power nothing else mattered.

For this issue of Adib’s death to fade from public consciousness and for a separate investigation to look into racism fanned by political parties we need more than a change in government - we need our entire society to change sparked by a genuine desire to see the fostering and growth of interracial harmony.

As Thomas said of this incident in his book: “Wishful thinking that this was violence carried out on racial grounds, thereafter coloured the thinking of millions of Malaysians, a sad commentary on the state of the nation.”

Will we ever get a satisfactory political resolution to the Adib case? - Mkini

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P GUNASEGARAM, a former editor at online and print news publications, and head of equity research, is an independent writer and analyst.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.