The acquittal of Cpl Jenain Subi shows the failure by the government and also the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to institute justice over the death of 15-year-old boy Aminulrasyid Amzah.

PKR vice-presidents Nurul Izzah Anwar and N Surendran, in a joint statement, expressed disappointment with the outcome of the Shah Alam High Court decision today.

“With this acquittal, no person has been held accountable for the unlawful killing of Aminulrasyid on April 26, 2010. The government, attorney-general and police must bear full responsibility for the failure to secure a single conviction,” they said in the statement.

NONE Today, it was reported that Cpl Jenain ( left ) was acquitted when the Shah Alam High Court was satisfied that the policeman fired the shots merely to stop the Proton Iswara car driven by Aminulrasyid and had no intention of killing the boy.

Meanwhile, non-governmental organisation Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), in a separate statement, asked the AGC to immediately file an appeal over the case.

“There’s an overwhelming set of evidence to show why the conviction should be upheld. How can anyone fire 21 rounds of bullets from a sub-machine gun merely to stop the car without knowing it will cause hurt or death and that, too, after the car had reduced its speed. This was admitted by Jenain himself.

“Secondly, the prosecution had an eyewitness to the whole incident in Azamuddin Omar, 15,  who was with Aminulrasyid the whole time,” said LFL adviser Eric Paulsen.

Police cover-up claim

Both LFL and PKR wants an appeal over today’s decision and they claimed police had tried to cover up the case.

Paulsen said the NGO had been dealing with the matter from the start and it pointed to the poor handling of the authorities’ investigation, and this shows attempts at a cover-up were made.

“Till today, there has not been a single explanation nor retraction of the false claim of a so-called parang found in Aminulrasyid’s car made by the then-Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, who is now the deputy IGP,” said Paulsen.

The police version, said the PKR vice-presidents, that Aminulrasyid had tried to reverse the car onto police personnel and that there was a parang in the boot of the vehicle were proven false in court.

“Khalid himself made these baseless allegations against Aminulrasyid. Until today, neither the Home Ministry nor the government has apologised to the family over the false allegations. No action was taken against Khalid who has since been promoted to the position of deputy IGP.

NONE “Aminulrasyid’s friend Azamuddin ( centre in photo ) had lodged a report that police had attempted to murder him during the incident. No action has been taken against any police officer on Azammudin’s report,” they said.

 

The government and the police leadership, the PKR vice-presidents said, said made every attempt to prevent the truth from emerging.

“They had no hesitation in defaming a poor dead boy and tarnishing his family’s reputation. For the family who suffered this tragic and enormously painful loss, there can now be no closure,” said Surendran and Nurul Izzah.

 

Call for IPCMC

Paulsen said the LFL reiterates the call for the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), and make public the law enforcement agencies’ standard operating procedures including the Inspector-General’s Standing Orders (IGSO) on police guidelines over discharge of firearms and detention and interrogation.

Surendran and Nurul Izzah also echoed the call, saying that when the police are allowed to investigate themselves, it is certainly less likely that convictions will be secured.

It was reported that Jenain was sentenced to five years’ jail after the Sessions Court found him guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.