Youth shooting: Police silence disturbing, says PKR
Dissatisfied with police inaction, the families of three youths shot dead by police at a petrol station in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, last November have lodged another police report on the incident.
Dissatisfied with police inaction, the families of three youths shot dead by police at a petrol station in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, last November have lodged another police report on the incident.
"We are seeking justice in the deaths of our sons," says the police report lodged by Norhafizah Mad Razali on behalf of the families of the three victims.
This, says the report filed by Norhafizah, who is the mother of Mohammad Shamil Hafiz Shapiei, one of the youths killed, was because until now, their earlier police reports have seen no concrete action from the police investigate the matter.
Norhafizah and representatives from the families of Mohd Hairul Nizam Tuah and Mohamad Hanafi Omar, the other two victims, lodged the report at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters earlier today.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who accompanied the family members to the police station, expressed her shock that the matter had still not been investigated.
"I am disappointed with the pace of the investigations. When it comes to matters like Bersih, they move quickly, but in this matter they are slow," lamented Nurul Izzah, who is a PKR vice-president.
‘Police silence disturbing'
She said the silence of the police on the matter, which could very well be "cold blooded murder", was disturbing and showed how political forces dictated the actions of the police force.
Police have offered to set up an
inquest
into the matter, but family members have refused, calling it a ‘
delay tactic
' and want police to investigate the shootings as murder and abuse of power by the officers involved.
This latest police report over the fatal incident followed the recent release of the post-mortem report on Muhamad Hanafi.
Fellow PKR vice-president and human rights lawyer N Surendran, who was also present, said the latest post-mortem report corroborated the findings of the earlier reports released on the post-mortem performed on Mohd Hairul and Mohamad Shamil.
He reiterated the stand of family members and activists championing their cause that the three were shot execution-style as all the bullet wounds were at 45-degree angles, as if the victims were kneeling down at the time of death.
Surendran argued that if police were to shoot to disable the youths, there was no need to shoot at the head and chest. A bullet in the extremities, he claimed, would have been sufficient.
‘Nothing more to be said'
The post-mortem reports also stated there were bruise marks on Mohamad Hanafi's eyes, which may indicate he was beaten prior to being shot and this has raised more questions about the police action.
The report showed that Mohamad Hanafi was shot twice in the cheeks and once in the chest, all at 45-degree angles.
Lawyer Latheefa Koya ( left ) said more disturbing were the remarks by senior police officers who seemed to want to whitewash and dismiss the shootings by labelling the three as hardened criminals, without providing any concrete evidence.
Latheefa also questioned police claims of a reduction in crime, asking whether the way the police force sought to reduce crime was with a shoot-to-kill policy, and then to put the blame on victims of police shootings gone wrong.
Nurhafizah and the other family representatives refused to make any comment. Nurhafizah would only say, "there is nothing more to be said" before turning away, with anguish clearly evident on her face.


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