Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 5^th May 2010: 

Late-night visit of Special Panel to Aminulrasyid murder site was a circus, just a PR show to assuage public outrage rather than substantive investigation and therefore an insult to Aminul’s memory and intelligence of concerned Malaysians

The late-night visit of the eight-man Special Panel headed by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusop to the Aminulrasyid murder site in Shah Alam yesterday was a circus, just a public relations (PR) show to assuage public outrage rather than substantive investigation and is therefore an insult to Aminul’s memory and the intelligence of concerned Malaysians.

I watched the 14.26 minute Malaysiakini video clip of the Special Panel’s visit and I am reminded of my visit, together with DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to the bereaved Aminul family in Shah Alam Section 11, particularly the suffering mother Norsiah Mohamad last Wednesday, directly on touchdown from our flight returning from Sibu.

The video of businessman, Wah Rahim Tajuddin, whose house was the exact spot Aminulrasyid had finally crashed into, and whose son is a good friend of Aminulrasyid, showed him still very distraught emotionally when narrating to members of the Special Panel the events of the tragic early hours the previous Monday eight days ago.

At least Rahim did not break down and wept as he did when he recounted to me the shocking killing of Aminulrasyid which he did not know until the next morning, believing that the corpse he saw slumped head-down in the car was a criminal whom the police had killed.

As Rahim recounted, Aminulrasyid was a good friend of his son and that he used to send the two boys together to their part-time jobs in McDonald's.

They also used to play futsal until late to the point where he had to drag both of them home.

It was Rahim who expressed the worry of the Shah Alam residents and their fear of the police who, instead of ensuring their security and safety, are now a threat to their security and safety – particularly concerned that youngsters who watch football games at mamak stalls into the early hours of the morning risk dangers like the fatal one which befell Aminul.

It was also at this encounter at the Aminulrasyhid murder scene last Wednesday that one of the neighbours shouted in anger, sorrow and despair “"This is not Manchester or Los Angeles, this is bloody Shah Alam" !

But when I watched the video of the Special Panel’s visit, one question bugged me: What was the purpose of the site visit as it served no purpose apart as being a circus and a PR exercise to deflect public anger not only at the police trigger-happy shooting and killing of a Form III student whose only offence was to drive underaged and without licence but also at the hamfisted mishandling of the Aminulrasyid killing by the authorities, particularly the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and the Home Minister Datuk Seir Hishammuddin Hussein.

What is the use of the Special Panel’s visit to the murder site unless it has the powers to take over all investigations into Aminulrasyid’s killing and murder?

At first, Abu Seman had said that the Special Panel had no powers to inquire or even to make recommendations to the police; but after severe public criticisms, the Special Panel suddenly claimed super powers: to call up witnesses, to review the procedures involving the discharge of firearms and even to scrutinize the investigation papers at any time without needing the approval of the police or Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Under what law did the Special Panel derive all these “quick silver” powers – turning into from a powerless to a super-powered Special Panel?

If the Special Panel is a genuine and not a fake high-powered monitoring and investigating body, the first thing it should have done is to demand explanations why the police had been so sloppy and slipshod in their investigations that their investigation papers into Aminulrasyid’s killing was sent back by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, demanding further investigations?

Abu Seman said clearly on video during the visit that the Special Panel hopes to meet once a week on every Friday. This is outrageous. If the Special Panel has become the most important body in the investigations into Aminulrasyid’s killing, it should be meeting every day and not every Friday!

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein must end this rigmarole of the weekly Friday meeting of the Special Panel headed by Abu Seman.

If they are serious about the Special Panel and serious in their assurance to the bereaved family and the country on wanting to get to the bottom of Aminulrasyid’s killing, then the Special Panel should take over all investigations of the case from the police in the form of a public inquiry.

It was better late than never – just convert the Special Panel into a Royal Commission of Inquiry with former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Hanif Omar replacing Abu Seman as Chairman, and expanding its terms of reference from Aminulrasyid’s killing to all police shooting deaths since 2005.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor