Remarks by High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah of shoddy prosecution in the course of the trial of eight people accused of murder in Penang and their acquittal without defence being called, on Tuesday (Oct 11) has again brought up the question of how justice can be undermined with poor prosecution and investigation.
I am sure a lot of peace loving Malaysians are very concerned over the turn of events that is plaguing our justice system, where those charged with various offences have been freed either because of strong defence put up by much experienced lawyers, or due to weak prosecution and poor investigation by the police or both.
In the particular case in Penang, Justice Mohamad Zabidin had even gone to the extent of remarking that he was sick and tired of the attitude of some of the police witnesses.
He has even offered to personally talk to the police or the Attorney-General's Chambers on how to conduct cases.
Such a turn of events will only undermine public confidence in police investigations and prosecution.
In the final analysis, our justice system will suffer.
The same kind of poor investigation and prosecution can also be said of the three highly publicised murder cases - Noritta Samsuddin, Datuk Norjan Khan and the Chinese national schoolboy Xu Jian Huang, where all the accused were acquitted.
I am not questioning the judgements in these cases, which rightly were made according to the law based on the evidence adduced in the courts concerned.
But what is most perplexing is how the persecution case can be so weak as to have so many holes in it?
How can evidence not be adduced to link accused persons to the crimes?
How can material witnesses just disappear without trace, at least in two of the cases?
Hopefully I am wrong to come to the conclusion that criminals can only be made to face the consequences of their crimes if they pleaded guilty.
Lawyers are fond of saying that it is better to free 1,000 murderers than to jail or execute an innocent man.
Of course nobody in their right mind would want to see an innocent man being made to pay for a crime he never committed.
But by the same token, the perpetrator of a crime should not also be allowed to be free.
Without dwelling on the merits or demerits of the prosecution in all the three highly publicised cases, plus the latest one in Penang, the outcome is that the public until today does not know who the murderers are.
To the layman, the murderers are scot-free and going about their normal lives, perhaps with some guilt feelings, but are nonetheless free to go about their business as if nothing had happened.
But what is of more concern to the public is that the incorrigible criminal can just thumb his nose at the authorities and law enforcers.
So what is the implication of this, to the public and society, to the victims' family and loved ones and to other criminals?
What can be more dangerous is the feeling by criminals that if people can get away with murder, what is a mere mugging or robbery.
Does this have any bearing on the recent spate of violent crimes where wives or girlfriends get beaten up and killed and snatch thieves are getting bolder?
Some people find it unsafe even to stop at traffic lights!
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Talk on Intellectual Property Law (10 Feb 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, the talk on “Intellectual Property Law” will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 10 Feb 2012 (Friday). The talk will feature Bahari Yeow Tien Hong. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on the Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Proceedings (21 Feb 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, the seminar on “The Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Proceedings”, featuring Sanjeev Kumar Rasiah, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 21 Feb 2012 (Tuesday). Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on the Fundamentals of Conveyancing (24 Feb 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar featuring Jeremiah R Gurusamy will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 24 Feb 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Mediation Skills Training Course (29 Feb to 4 Mar 2012) Organised by Bar Council, the Mediation Skills Training Course will take place at 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, at Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 29 Feb to 4 Mar 2012 (Wednesday to Sunday). Deadline for registration and payment is 17 Feb 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on “Land Fraud: An Australian Perspective” (13 Mar 2012) Organised by IGIL, GSGSG and UUM COLGIS, this free talk featuring Quintin George Rozario of Delta Law, Brisbane, Australia, will take place at 9:00 am, at Dewan Seminar A, Pusat Konvensyen, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, on 13 Mar 2012 (Tuesday). To RSVP, contact Mr Abutt (04-928 4397; abutt@uum.edu.my).
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