Syazlin Mansor to resume role as lawyer for Adib's family in inquest
Lawyer Syazlin Mansor has announced that she will continue to represent the family of deceased firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim in the inquest to determine his cause of death.
She told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon that her decision was at the behest of the family...
Lawyer Syazlin Mansor has announced that she will continue to represent the family of deceased firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim in the inquest to determine his cause of death.
She told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon that her decision was at the behest of the family.
"I will continue representing the deceased's family in the inquest proceedings.
"Adib's father asked me to continue being their lawyer... I am quite close to the family," she added.
Previously, Shazlin, who was also acting for the Housing and Local Government Ministry as well as the Fire and Rescue Department, was forced to withdraw from the inquest.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, who ordered her removal, however, expressed shock that she also chose to stop acting for Adib's family.
Thomas said her removal from representing the other two parties was due to conflict of interest should the firefighter's family decide to institute legal action against the government.
Shazlin, however, dismissed the attorney-general's reasoning.
"I wish to stress that there is no conflict of interest as it has never arisen that the family would sue to ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department.
"This is because the theory that the deceased was hit by the firefighters' (Emergency Medical Rescue Service {EMRS} - van) is an unfounded theory which was made by those not involved in the inquest proceedings," she said.
She said both the family and the Fire and Rescue Department rejected the "hit by EMRS van" theory.
She also rejected Thomas' reasoning that she needed a fiat (legal sanction) as she was acting as a lawyer and not as someone conducting the proceedings.
Likewise, as a lawyer for vested parties, she said she was allowed to take an active role in the inquest.
She also took issue with the attorney-general citing her husband's then position as Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin's press secretary as a reason to axe her.
She said this should not have been an issue as she was doing her work pro bono.
"I believe this to be an ill-intended act to tarnish the good names of myself and my husband," she said.
Syazlin's husband, Ahmad Soffian Mohd Shariff, has since quit as Zuraida's press secretary. He said today that he had lost faith in the government.
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