PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Terengganu High Court has thrown out an application to strike out an injunction brought by four activists against the Besut District Council and Terengganu state government.
The court also set Aug 13 for the outcome of the matter.
The lawyer representing the activists, Rajesh Nagarajan, said the High Court will determine whether the killing of Kopi is lawful or not.
“The High Court has directed that the parties put in their written submissions,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Rajesh said the plaintiffs were relieved with the High Court’s decision to dismiss the application by the defendants to strike out the lawsuit.
“This is a positive first step to obtain justice for Kopi which was murdered in cold blood,” he said.
The plaintiffs, who filed the originating summons seeking the injunction last December are Kartini Farah Abd Rahim, S. Mukunnan, Hong Hai San and S. Shashi Kumar.
On Dec 31, the state government applied to dismiss the suit, followed by the district council on Jan 1.
Kartini Farah, who affirmed an affidavit in support, said residents in Besut were shaken at about 1.30am on Oct 6 by the sound of gunshots.
The residents, who went out to investigate, saw three district council officers driving around in a pick-up truck. They then found Kopi dead from gunshot wounds.
Kartini Farah said the council issued a statement on Oct 13, citing that the shooting of Kopi was done in accordance with the law and the standard operating procedure in handling stray dogs.
A Facebook page called My Forever Doggo shared a 52-second video clip that showed Kopi died from serious injuries.
Kopi went viral after one of her feeders, Abby Razali, uploaded a TikTok video of the dog playing with a kitten in March 2024.
