Group wants updates on Nhaveen appeal, threatens hunger strike

 

The group Nhaveen Action & Investigation League has urged the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to provide updates on its appeal against the acquittal and discharge of five individuals allegedly responsible for T Nhaveen’s death by bullying.

The group also urged the AGC to expedite the rearrest of the five individuals.

Failing this, its chairperson Arun Dorasamy said he and Nhaveen’s mother Shanti Dorairaj would go on a hunger strike.

The group had submitted a memorandum to the AGC two weeks ago urging for an appeal against the court decision, only to learn that the AGC had filed the appeal just hours earlier.

However, despite contacting them daily, Arun (above) told Malaysiakini he has not received any updates from the AGC since then.

He did not divulge when and where the hunger strike will occur but emphasised that he does not mean to take an adversarial stance towards the AGC.

Instead, he said he wants to assert that the AGC has an obligation to provide information to the victim’s family.

“Why do we have to be in a black box, dealing with a secretive culture? Is the AGC out of reach of the public? And is the AGC not working for the public? Especially a victim’s family? And this is a public interest case,” Arun said.

He said Shanti has a right to know the progress of the case and the AGC should proactively reach out to keep her updated rather than adding to her anguish.

“I mean, if we cannot help her, at least do not add to her pain. And why is it so difficult to pick up the phone to call the mother or call the lawyer for a watching brief?” he said.

Talking to a wall

Arun also expressed frustration towards the AGC’s lack of communication, saying that the chambers did not respond to continuous phone calls and letters to them.

The AGC did not even inform them who is the person in charge of handling the case, making it difficult to obtain information.

He lamented having to resort to the media to “communicate” with the AGC, saying, “If it’s without media, I wouldn’t have gotten half of the things done now.”

If the AGC does not have time to handle the Nhaveen case, Arun said they should consider hiring private lawyers to represent the government.

“We have scores of learned, well-known private lawyers who wanted to defend Naveen,” he said.

Earlier this month, the High Court in George Town acquitted and discharged five individuals accused of causing Nhaveen’s death, allegedly killed due to violent bullying in 2017.

Judge Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid gave the order to S Gopinaath, 32, J Ragesuthan, 24, and S Gokulan, 24, and two others, who were juveniles at the time of the incident, after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.

He said the court found that there were conflicting versions in the witness statements regarding several incidents and cited the prosecution’s failure to call a key witness - Nhaveen’s friend T Previin - to the witness stand.

The five were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for allegedly murdering Nhaveen near the Karpal Singh Learning Centre in Jalan Kaki Bukit, Gelugor, between 11pm and midnight on June 9, 2017.

Elaborating, Arun emphasised that his group does not intend to interfere with the legal process by constantly enquiring for updates on the case.

As the affected parties, he said Nhaveen’s mother Shanti and Previin deserved justice. - Mkini