Charge Zahid with instigating murder, say lawyers

The home minister's call to the police to gun down suspected criminals has earned the wrath of a group of legal eagles who demanded that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi be arrest and prosecuted for instigating murder.

In a statement today, Lawyers for Liberty said it was both "deeply concerned and disturbed" by the criminal nature of Zahid's "shoot first" remark.

"It is disturbing that our home minister has given his endorsement to all law enforcement officers to mete out death sentences to suspected offenders on the street, without due process.

"It is evident that the home minister is unaware of the basic concepts of the rule of law that underpin our justice system and has chosen to trample on the federal constitution and human rights.

"Fundamental principles of the right to life, liberty, fair trial, due process and innocence until guilt is proven are concepts that appear to be alien to the home minister, which is a cause for alarm for all Malaysians," said the group's legal/campaign coordinator Michelle Yesudas.
Najib must act
Yesudas also noted that Zahid's stand was reflected in his adamant views on welcoming back detention without trial, by taking ownership of the draconian amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act.

By encouraging law enforcers to "shoot first", she said, the home minister was effectively ordering policemen and officers to disregard the criminal justice system, due process and was legitimising the cold-blooded murder of "suspects" without them being brought before a court.

Furthermore, Lawyers for Liberty found it ironic that a minister so bent on curbing gangsterism with preventive detention laws and "shoot to kill" policies did not hesitate to befriend the gangsters of Tiga Line.

"His statement disregards and disrespects the tragic deaths of many innocent Malaysians and their long suffering families, such as Aminulrasyid, the Glenmarie Trio, the Cheras Trio, Dinesh Dharmasena and Pua Bee Chun, to name a few," said Yesudas.

Lawyers for Liberty also called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to take stern action against ministers who display such disregard for human lives and civil liberties.

The organisation was responding to the controversial remarks made by Zahid during an event in Malacca last week.