Another case of police shooting death has surfaced – and I fully support the demand of the aggrieved mother Sapiah Elah, 52, from Simpang Waha Felda, Kota Tinggi for an independent commission to investigate into the fatal police shooting of her son on Mohd Afham Arin, 18, October 20 last year.
Sapiah said Mohd Afham was a good son who did not have any previous criminal record.
Mohd Afham, who was believed to be involved in snatch thefts, was riding the motorcycle with 19-year-old Mohd Firdaus Marsani as pillion rider, in Taman Johor Jaya after having dinner.
Mohd Firdaus, who also demanded justice in the case, refuted the police allegation that he had waved a machete at the policemen, thus forcing the policemen to shoot at them in self-defence.
He related yesterday that he and Mohd Afham were chased by three men on motorcycles. He said the three men were in plainclothes and did not show their authority cards, and out of fear Mohd Afham sped off towards Pasir Gudang with the three men giving chase.
“On reaching a corner near the bridge on the route to Seri Alam, I heard a gunshot from behind followed by two more shots which caused us to fall from the motorcycle,” recalled Mohd Firdaus who managed to flee the scene after falling into some bushes.
He claimed that the death of Mohd Afham who was a student of the Ledang Community College and was undergoing training in Larkin, Johor Bahru, was due to police negligence.
Mohd Firdaus gave a statement to the police on the incident in January but until today had not received any feedback from them.
Only last Wednesday, a police report was lodged by Port Klang operator, 25-year-old Sharil Azlan Ahmad Kamil, who was shot at a roadblock in Shah Alam in April last year.
The Port Klang Northport worker said the bullet slug, which hit his arm and penetrated his ribcage, remains lodged close to his spine. He said doctors told him there was a high risk of him being paralysed if surgery is performed to remove the slug.
Sharil said he was driving back home to Kapar with a friend after a drink at a restaurant in Section 7, Shah Alam at about 12.30am on April 16, 2009 when he came across a police roadblock.
Realising his road tax had expired, he said he panicked and pulled over to evade the police.
Sharil alleged that two plainclothes policemen armed with sticks approached them and on seeing this he turned off at a lane. He said he then heard at least three gunshots fired and he and his friend ducked inside the car to avoid the shots.
However, the last gunshot which went through his car door hit him.
These two accounts of police shootings last year sound very familiar with cases of police abuses of firearms and remind Malaysians of the totally inexcusable fatal police shooting of 14-year-old Form III student Aminulrasyid Amzah in Shah Alam in the early hours of April 26, 2010 some 100 metres from his house.
Two weeks ago, just before the Cabinet meeting of 12th May 2010, I sent an Open Tweet to the Prime Minister and all other Ministers asking the Cabinet to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to end the spate of trigger-happy police shootings which have resulted in unacceptable fatalities, and that such a Royal Commission should inquire into all cases of police shootings as well as fatal police shootings from 2005.
The surfacing of the case of the fatal police killing of teenager Mohd Afham Arin October 20 last year has strengthened the case for such a Royal Commission of Inquiry, and if the Cabinet reminds blind and deaf to public concerns about deteriorating standards of police efficiency, accountability and professionalism, especially on trigger-happy police shootings, DAP and Pakatan Rakyat will make this a top priority issue in the forthcoming meeting of Parliament beginning on June 7 till July 13.
I will also propose that Pakatan Rakyat convene another Police Parliamentary Roundtable on police shootings inviting participation of NGOs and the civil society during the 22-day parliamentary meeting which also revisit the the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission Report 2005 and its 125 recommendations to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional and world-class police service focusing on the three core functions of keeping crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.
Snatch thieves are a real menace in Johor Bahru. Maybe the police can consider using those tranquilizer bullets for catching wildlife.
Ho Ho Ho
OMG this pdrm really enjoy being COWboy lately with there sick policia trigger happy!
What kind of training those crazy cops being through? Shoot to kill ah?
Ho Ho Ho
have gun will travel. If they are really snatch thieves who causes grieve and death to innocent people, I have nothing to say. How come pdrm are not shooting those people in putrajaya who are snatching and stealing from the rakyat?
//Mohd Afham, who was believed to be involved in snatch thefts….//
We need to hear both sides of the story. I will fully support the police on condition that they show solid proof that Mohd Afham has been involved in snatch thefts, such as previous arrests and convictions.
Then his parents should also be given the rotan for improper upbringing of their son. A few more such shootings and the mat rempit menace will disappear from the country
Whaaaaoooo. Hey john wayne. Step aside would ya. Cause “the wild wild pdrm” is here “on steel horses”.
I agreed with k1980.
Were the policemen lives in danger in either case? They were both speeding away and the Police were behind them. Did they shoot or attack the police? Were they armed?
So where is the self-defence? Why was it necessary to open fire, with possibility to kill? Are our cops trained to be trigger-happy? Why is there a general presumption that all the victims were dangerous criminals and not innocent people running away in fear and in confusion?
Why is the Home Minister so very easy-going on all these deaths caused by the police?
May b mata-mata r victims of gomen’s austerity drive
No place n no chance 2 practise shooting n sharpen their shooting skill
So practise shooting lah at suspicious characters whenever got chance
Back luck lah 4 ppl meeting trigger-happy cops; true ah?
Once again, Police are Disciplinary Force, they should practice under a tight Code of Practice.
Please get it from the Police or AG and have it in every blogger’s web.
What the child did is one thing. And, HOW the Police should carry out their duty is the Very Fundamental and Important!!
DAP should pass the complaint to the Department Concerned – not only the Police but the AG for their Feedback.
There should be a time frame where the Police should finish their investigation and pass to AG.
NOT ONLY WHEN INVOLVING LIFE AND DEATH THEN PEOPLE SHOULD YELL!!
SILENCE SHOULD NOT BE “GOLD” FOR EACH AND EVERY GOVERNMENT OFFICE!!
How can Police/KUP/AG/PCB be silent on a notorious “Senior” lawyer assaulting and cheating clients in Penang be silent!!
They owes the Complainants, the Public an explanation before they should face the RCI.
Or, those involved should be suspended until further investigation, including those supervisor declined to feedback!!
The problem is not with a single or a few officers but the chain of administration that involved.
WHEN EVERY GOVERNMENT OFFICE CAN DRAG AND SILENT, LAW OR ADMINISTRATION ARE OPERATING IN THE VACUUM!!
Same for those PARTIES being Silent or Dummy to Complaints from the People!!
Why is there a presumption that the police’s life is not in imminent danger, the victims are not armed, hence no claim of self-defence by the police, the victims are innocent people running away in fear and in confusion?
If the Home Minister is “so very easy going” on all these deaths caused by the police, he is also guilty on being “so very easy going” on rising in crimes, especially snatch thieves and mat rempits.
These may be the more appropriate way of catching snatch thieves (via the use of tranquilizer bullets), but what if these bullets stray and hit innocent bystanders instead?
:)
Could the parents of the victims of shooting be held accountable for neglect or exposure of risk of injury under the Child Act 2001?
Section 31 (1) (a) states that any person who, being a person having the care of a child abuses, neglects, abandons or exposes the child in a manner likely to cause him physical or emotional injury or causes or permits him to be so abused, neglected, abandoned or exposed commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both.
Similarly, could the parents of Nurin Jazlin where an eight-year old girl reported missing after she had gone to a wet market located near her house to buy a hair clip, and later she was found brutally murder where her naked body which was stuffed in a fetal position in a brand-new gym bag that was left in front of a shop was also found stuffed with a cucumber and a brinjal inside her genitals had caused her rectum to rupture be held liable under the Child Act 2001?
Section 33 states that any person who, being a parent or a guardian or a person for the time being having the care of a child, leaves that child-
(a) without making reasonable provision for the supervision and care of the child;
(b) for a period which is unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances; or
(c) under conditions which are unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances,
commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.
When will the parents/guardians ever learn these episodes?
Isn’t prevention always better than cure?
Silence is golden – who says not?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcm0nmhlZik