OPPOSITION leaders today warned Attorney-General Tommy Thomas not to interfere in the inquest into the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, and renewed calls for the A-G to be removed.

The withdrawal of inquest lawyer Syazlin Mansor by the Attorney-General’s Chambers has upset people, and they may “take matters into their own hands”, opposition leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob said at a joint press conference with PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.

“The move to withdraw the lawyer representing the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department shows interference by the A-G, Tommy Thomas.

“This is a sensitive issue and must be handled carefully. The issue can be manipulated by anyone and become a time bomb if the people see it as a failure of the government.

“We are afraid that people are getting restless waiting for the outcome of the inquest; they might take some kind of action,” said Ismail, who is also an Umno vice-president.

Takiyuddin said the opposition were not politicising the inquest but were simply seeking justice, something they would do even if the victim had been of another race.

“We need to differentiate political statements about this issue. We have never interfered or politicised Adib’s death.

“Instead, we are asking for justice for him, for a officer who died in the line of duty.

“This is to protect Adib’s name. If the victim’s name is Maniam or Ah Seng, we would be demanding the same thing,” Takiyuddin said at the Putra World Trade Centre, which houses Umno’s headquarters.

Syazlin withdrew from the inquest two days ago on instructions from the A-G’s Chambers. 

Thomas yesterday said that she was being withdrawn as she had been representing three parties, creating conflicts of interest. She had represented the Housing and Local Government Ministry, the Fire and Rescue Department, and the family of the deceased.

Thomas had also cited other reasons for her removal, including that the ministry may not have sought the Chambers’ advice on appointing external counsel; that Syazlin had contradicted the government’s deputy public prosecutors during the inquest; and, that she was also married to the press secretary of the housing and local government minister.

Takiyuddin said Thomas was behaving as if the Chambers was his “own law firm”.

“We stress the A-G must not use the Chambers as if it was his own law firm. The Chambers has procedures and rules to follow.

“Even though the A-G can appoint a lawyer as a prosecutor, do not do so until the people lose confidence in the Chambers.

“We, as the opposition, want the government to review the A-G’s appointment. He is no longer fit as A-G and fails to play his role in public interest cases,” Takiyuddin said. – May 29, 2019.