KOTA KINABALU: The Coroner's Court here on Thursday (Sept 25) maintained the status quo of not allowing media practitioners to cover the inquest proceedings into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir involving child witnesses who have been giving evidence since Monday (Sept 22).
Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan made the decision after Sabah prosecution director Nahra Dollah said that the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) would not allow the media to be present at the proceedings until all child witnesses had finished giving their evidence.
However, Amir Shah said the media could obtain information regarding the proceedings through the lawyers involved after the case was concluded.
This was confirmed by Nahra and lawyers Datuk Ram Singh and Shahlan Jufri when met after the inquest proceedings which entered their 14th day on Friday.
On Wednesday (Sept 24), Nahra told the court that they would be receiving instructions from Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar regarding media coverage of the case as the child witnesses began giving their evidence.
He made the statement when Amir Shah asked whether the media could be allowed to cover the proceedings given the high-profile case.
Based on the Evidence of Child Witness Act 2017, it clearly prohibits the publication of any information that could reveal the identity of a child.
Since Monday, media personnel have not been allowed to enter the courtroom during the closed evidence to protect the identity of child witnesses and so far, three student witnesses have testified.
A total of 32 more child witnesses are expected to give evidence in the inquest in the upcoming session.
In addition, so far, eight adult witnesses had testified in the proceedings, with 25 adult witnesses expected to give evidence in the upcoming session.
Zara Qairina, 13, was confirmed dead at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu on July 17 after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar at 4 am, July 16.
On Aug 8, the AGC issued an order to exhume Zara Qairina's grave to enable a post-mortem to be conducted and after reviewing the police investigation report, the AGC on Aug 13 ordered an inquest to be conducted. - Bernama
