COMMENT | Fatal shooting in Malacca - a case of trigger happy?
COMMENT | It was widely reported in the media that the police had fired a shot at three suspected robbers - aged between 24 and 29 - in Durian Tunggal, Malacca, on Nov 24 last year, causing their deaths.
In justifying the shooting, Malacca police chief Dzulkhairi Mukhtar defended his team’s actions by alleging that the incident caused a corporal, in his early 30s, to suffer severe injuries to his left arm.
Whilst the severe injuries suffered by our police personnel are to be deeply regretted, the death of the three suspected criminals should be equally mourned as well.
At this juncture, it would be unfair and premature to claim whose version of the incident was right. After all, the case is still pending investigation. It is never our intention to pin the blame on any party.
It is hoped that the police investigation will be transparent and professionally conducted so that any public misgivings about the efficacy of the investigation will be completely erased. The notion of police investigating police invariably gives rise to apprehension that the quality of the investigation might be easily compromised.
Anyway, the fact that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has duly agreed and, in turn, directed that the investigation of such a fatal shooting incident be reclassified under section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, it drives home this point: there was a possibility that the fatal shooting was disproportionately executed and heavily influenced by a "trigger happy" mentality. Or maybe not.
Since the AGC has reclassified the fatal incident under Section 302 of the Penal Code, the lawyer representing the family of the victims, in my view, has every right to question why, hitherto, there has been no arrest made against the officers allegedly involved in the shooting.
Legally and logically speaking, at the very least, there should be an arrest being made for remand purposes so that the proper investigation can be effectively carried out.
When no arrest has been effectuated, let alone the remand, I am afraid this would only besmirch the good name of our police force and, by extension, the home ministry too.
MOHAMED HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy law minister.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
