SEREMBAN: Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has urged the police to immediately investigate the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim following a riot at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in November.
In a statement shared on his Instagram account, Mohamad also slammed the action of the Attorney General’s Chambers to use inquest proceeding to identify the cause behind Muhammad Adib’s death.
“Why does the Attorney-General direct an inquest while investigation on Adib’s death is still being conducted as a murder case under Section 302 of the Penal Code?
“Has the Attorney General lost his confidence in the credibility and efficiency of the police to carry out the investigation into this murder case?
“Of course, an act of investigating Adib’s ‘cause of death’ and investigating ‘who caused the death’ are two different objectives?” he wrote.
Mohamad also questioned the government’s move through the Attorney General which tried to distort the views of the people as if Muhammad Adib’s death was defended, although the killer was still at large.
“My sympathy goes to Adib’s family, who are left wondering about the killer of their son. The people are now looking at whether the government complies with the ‘Rule of Law’ or simply using legal procedures to delay justice,” he wrote.
Mohamad also questioned the move by Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who made a statement on the instruction for the inquest to investigate Muhammad Adib’s death, issued by the Attorney General.
“Why did the KDN Minister gave the press statement instead of the Attorney-General himself? This gives the perception to Malaysians that the Ministry of Home Affairs is interfering with police investigation and Attorney-General prosecution,” he said.
Muhyiddin earlier had said that in the inquest proceeding, the magistrate would have a wide scope of powers under Section 328 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which touches on cause of death.
This includes assessing how Muhammad Adib had died and whether his death was caused, or accelerated by any illegal acts committed by someone else.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas revealed that unearthed specific findings in the investigations could only be revealed in court.
Earlier, the four men who were detained to assist police investigations on the attack on Muhammad Adib during the riots at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple were released after their remand order expired on Dec 10.
Magistrate Nurshahirah Abd Salim ordered the release of two of the suspects on a court bond of RM2,000 while the other two were released on police bail.
The four suspects, aged between 21 and 24, were remanded for four days to assist with the investigation under the Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder.