KOTA KINABALU: A non-government organisation (NGO) has filed an application to cancel the ongoing coroner’s inquest into the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir, claiming that the proceedings were not conducted in accordance with Sabah’s own inquest laws.
Pertubuhan Kebajikan Ekonomi Semangat Bersatu Malaysia (Pembela Malaysia) president Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Jeffry Rosman said Sabah’s Inquest Ordinance 1959 is a valid state legislation that specifically governs how inquests must be carried out, but alleged that the authorities had instead relied on the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), a federal law he said was never intended to override Sabah’s legal framework.
“This is a serious legal error that undermines the rights of the family and the public’s expectation of fairness,” he said in a video statement recorded outside the Kota Kinabalu Court here on Friday (Nov 21).
Jeffry added that the ordinance includes safeguards, such as the option for a coroner to summon a jury composed of at least half of the deceased's race, which he said was never considered during the ongoing proceedings.
“We believe it is time to stop what is currently being done in the Coroner’s Court. The inquest has reached its 41st day, and Zara has been gone for 127 days. Yet we see justice for her becoming increasingly unclear,” he said.
He said Pembela Malaysia was asking the High Court to quash the current inquest and declare that any inquiry into Zara’s death must be conducted under the Inquest Ordinance 1959 in line with Sabah’s constitutional rights under MA63.
“The rest will be handled by our lawyers,” he added.
The inquest into the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir began on Sept 3 at the Coroner’s Court in Kota Kinabalu, following her death on July 17 after she was found unconscious near her school dormitory in Papar.
It was convened amid conflicting accounts of the incident and public calls for an independent determination of the circumstances leading to her death.
