KOTA KINABALU: The father of Zara Qairina Mahathir and the Education Ministry have been accepted as among the five interested parties in the inquest into the teenager’s death.
Newly-appointed coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan allowed Mahathir Mohd Hashim, who is estranged from Zara Qairina’s mother, to attend the inquest.
The others accepted were lawyers representing the five teenagers charged with bullying leading to the 13-year-old’s death, and the deceased’s mother Noraidah Lamat.
There were no objections to the applications except for the application from the legal teams defending the teenagers charged on Aug 20 here.
However, Amir Shah declared the lawyers were parties of interest in line with the “virtue of the practice directions and in fairness”.
“I allow Child Offender 1 to Child Offender 5 to be declared as interested parties,” Amir Shah said in his decision after objections were raised from Noraidah and the Sabah Law Society (SLS), who are sitting in as watching brief.
One of the teenagers’ lawyer, Datuk Ram Singh, said they will not be allowed to cross examine the witnesses and their position in the inquest was only to protect the interest and identity of their client.
Mahathir, who was not present in court, was represented by counsel Sherzali Asli, Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip and Clarice Vyonne Conrad.
Sherzali said that Mahathir had been left in a limbo in the case and relied on social media reports.
“It is best he gets the full details by being included in this inquest,” he told reporters after welcoming the coroner’s decision to include the father.
A total of 66 witnesses, including 25 children, will be giving testimonies under oath at the hearing and they will also be visiting the site of the incident at the school dormitory in Papar on Sept 11.
The Attorney General’s Chambers team said the use of witness statements would speed up proceedings, but the lawyer representing Zara Qairina’s mother objected, saying that written statements could be unreliable and could not be cross examined.
The coroner then ruled that only selected child witnesses would be called in, with only lead counsel permitted to question them in step to prevent duplication and ensure vulnerable witnesses were not subjected to unnecessary pressure.
Zara Qairina was found unconscious near a drain on the ground floor of her third floor dormitory on July 16.
She died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu the day after.
