'No problem' to charge minors based on available evidence: Nancy

PARLIAMENT | Women, Family and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri today said there should be “no problem” to press charges against minors implicated in bullying Zara Qairina Mahathir.

Nancy, who was also the de facto law minister between 2013 and 2016, clarified that the inquest’s purpose was to investigate other matters, while the decision to charge the minors allegedly involved in Zara’s case had been decided based on existing evidence. 

“In my opinion, there should be no problem… because the prosecution can rely on the existing evidence that has been found. They can still proceed with the inquest later, because the inquest serves a different purpose.

“So if the prosecution relies on evidence from the inquest, then it might (also) involve other parties, or involve other types of offences…

“This is just my understanding of the law. Because I was also interested in the case, I also wanted to know if both the charges and the inquest could proceed concurrently,” she said. 

Nancy’s remarks were in response to Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden (PN-Alor Setar), who asked for the minister’s opinion on whether the minors involved in Zara’s case should be charged, as the inquest is still pending.

He emphasised that minors must be protected and expressed concern that it may be premature to press charges, since it may eventuate that the charges are not aligned with the findings of the inquest and post-mortem.

Yesterday, the PAS Youth chief also offered five crisis management suggestions for the Education Ministry, including having a single spokesperson, timely and periodical updates on various mediums, as well as announcing “serious and convincing” measures against bullying.

Five teens to be charged with bullying

Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar today confirmed that five teenagers will be charged in the Kota Kinabalu Juvenile Court on Wednesday (Aug 20), with allegedly bullying Zara, who was a Form One student.

Dusuki later clarified that the teenagers will be charged under Section 507C(1) of the Penal Code, relating to the offence of using or making any threatening, abusive, or insulting words or communication, and not for causing Zara’s death.

He explained that the charges will be based on evidence from the police investigation, adding that it would not disrupt the inquest, which has separately been set by the Coroner’s Court to begin on Sept 3.

Following this, the legal team representing Zara’s family today urged the AGC to charge the five teenagers with a more serious offence.

“We appeal to the attorney-general to reconsider charging the teenagers under Section 507D(2) of the Penal Code.

“If the evidence at hand is still inadequate to secure a conviction under this provision, we hope the prosecution can be halted temporarily while a further investigation can be carried out from this angle.

“But if there is enough evidence to charge all of the teenagers with a more serious offence under Section 507D(2), we pray that they will be charged under the provision,” they said in a statement today.

The section deals with threatening, abusive, or insulting acts towards a person with the intention to provoke the person to harm themself or someone else.

Investigation under scrutiny

Zara was pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital I on July 17.

She had been admitted to the hospital after being found unconscious in a drain near the dormitory of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar at 4am on July 16.

Police initially classified the case as “sudden death” and skipped a post-mortem after her mother signed a consent letter declining it, which is now under scrutiny for breaching police protocol.

Several rallies have taken place since the incident, demanding justice for her death, in which foul play is suspected.

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