The mother of a 17-year old who was shot by cops on Friday lodged a police report today denying her son was involve in any alleged crime.

johari abu bakar police shooting victim 150511 “I was informed by the police that my son was shot when he fired at them, but I don’t believe their statements,” said Salmah Mohamed Shariff, 41.

“To my knowledge, my son was never in possession of any weapon,” said Salmah, whose son Johari Abu Bakar ( right ) died on May 13 around 11pm from his injuries in Dengkil, Selangor.

Salmah said doubts were raised about the circumstances of her son's death when she went to identify him at the Hospital Serdang mortuary yesterday.

“The front of his body was covered in mud... (and) after the postmortem I could see clearly that his right arm was broken,” said Salmah in her police report.

The fatal shooting of Johari brings the number of underage youths killed by the police allegedly in shootouts to five since last year.

“A policeman called Afendi told me that my son and four others were being observed for five days before the incident. And they were lodging at a hotel in Dengkil nearby the police station.

“My son is said to have walked out of the hotel and gotten into his car when police cars ambushed and surrounded him.

"They claimed that my son reversed his car and crashed into one of the police vehicles and started firing at them.

“The police also said that they couldn’t arrest the other four as they managed to escape,” stated Salmah, who was accompanied by her mother and two older sons.

She demanded that an independent body to probe the incident is set up, as Johari was still young.

Family wants second autopsy

Johari, who was between jobs at the time of his death, had dropped out of school at the age of 14, said Salmah.

"He was a good and obedient son”, she added.

azlan The grieving mother said that the last time she last saw Johari was a week ago when he visited his grandmother two days before his death.

“I last heard from him on Friday, around the same time he died, he called but I didn’t hear his voice when I answered the call,” she said.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) member James Nagayam, Subang PKR MP R Sivarasa, Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong and Lawyer for Liberty’s Fadiah Nadwa Fikri accompanied the family in filing the report this afternoon.

Fadiah told Malaysiakini that lawyers for the family will be filing a court order for a second postmortem.

This is because pathologist Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin, who conducted the postmortem on Johari, is under investigations by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).

petition to investigate kugan's death to istana 260909 kugan mother cry Abdul Karim, known for having conducted the postmortem of A Kugan who died while in police detention, had concluded in that case that Kugan had died from fluid accumulation in the lungs.

Kugan’s family had demanded an independent second autopsy after they found bruises and lacerations on the youth's body.

The second postmortem conducted by University Malaya Medical Centre pathologist Dr Prashant N Samberkar found that 22-year-old Kugan had been beaten so badly that he had died of kidney failure.

An independent committee investigating the two postmortem reports later concluded that Kugan died of acute inflammation of the heart muscle compounded by blunt force trauma.

Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail re-classified Kugan’s death as murder.

Police constable V Navindran was charged with causing grievous hurt to the deceased. 

In January, Navindran was however acquitted and discharged after the prosecution was ruled to have failed to prove a prima facie case.

Violation of Child's Rights

Meanwhile, human rights NGO Suaram today blasted the police for using firearms on the teenager.

kugan death protest 210109 posters 04 Suaram coordinator Yap Heng Lung said the police did not accord Johari the right to defend himself and it contravenes human rights laws and violates provision under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Suaram understands the responsibility of the police to prevent criminal activity but it does not mean they can carry out operations without abiding by international standards, including shooting a person dead before trial,” said Yap in a statement today.

According to statistics released by the Home Ministry, from 2000 to 2009 279 people have been killed in police shootouts.

Yap added that the force’s hesitation in making the Inspector-General of Police Standing Orders (IGSO) public is even more disappointing.

“This clearly proves that the use of firearms by the police is not open for public scrutiny and thereby causes low accountability within the institution,” he said.

Suaram also urged for Johari’s killers to be tried in court and pressed the government to establish the long-awaited Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) immediately.