Mobs and the justice system

IT was a quiet Sunday evening, and then the peace in the Cheras suburb of Taman Shamelin Perkasa, Kuala Lumpur, was shattered.

A lorry drove up, reversed and crashed into the gate of an entertainment outlet, ripping it open.

Scores of masked men rushed in from all over, all armed and dangerous-looking. The mob smashed the place up and then fled. And all was quiet again.

But they could not get away with it. The Malaysian police are no pushovers and they got to the culprits in almost no time.

On April 11, 32 of the rioters were hauled up in court and slapped with RM3,000 fines. Two more – both 19-year-olds – were let off with RM2,000 fines. That’s a grand total of RM100,000 in fines.

It may sound like a large sum, but it’s just small change for any major underworld character. And that light tap on the wrist, in the eyes of many, is criminal.

On the same day, a man in Kuching was jailed for 12 months. His offence? He had threatened to run over his estranged wife with his car.

He did not do it. He merely said that he would do it. Yet he was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

In February, a woman was fined RM11,800 for “going on a rampage” at an eatery in Ipoh. She was also charged with attacking a man using a dangerous weapon – a fork.

Those 34 people brought firearms, ammunition, explosives and flammable substances to the entertainment centre – and got off with minimal fines!

The centre was smashed, with broken glass and furniture all over. Looking at the damage they had caused, the punishment is almost laughable.

There’s really something strange going on with the Malaysian justice system.

Having firearms can get you 14 years in prison and whipping. Just having a bullet can get you seven years and a RM10,000 fine. Ditto for explosives.

The mob had all of that, and more. Yet they got away with little more than a slap on the wrist. Why? Did the prosecution not care?

There are other questions, too. Who was the mastermind behind the attack? Who was the burly “commander” giving instructions to the raiders at the scene? Who staged the whole thing?

It’s not as if scores of people decided to get up one evening, pick up whatever weapons they had and converge on the building.

Someone must have organised the attack, planned the moves and paid the participants (very likely more than RM3,000 each).

Was it extortion? Was it business rivalry? Was it an underworld attack?

More than 50 people were said to have been involved in the attack, yet only 45 were arrested. And of that number 34 were charged. What about the rest?

Surely the police would have got some of the 34 to talk. Why was the mastermind not charged, and with a greater offence?

It’s almost like the Altantuya Shaariibuu case, where two men were found guilty of first-degree murder. Yet neither of them had even heard of the Mongolian model until the day of her death.

To this day, no one knows why she was killed and blown to bits. Just as we don’t know why the attack on that outlet in Cheras happened.

The only good news now is that the High Court has decided to step in.

The 34 men have been ordered to attend a revision hearing. It’s not an appeal by the prosecution – it’s a revision hearing, which means the High Court is not satisfied with the Magistrate Court’s decision.

Revision hearings are used to address a “gross failure of justice” or non-compliance with the law, including instances where a sentence is grossly inadequate or excessive.

Hopefully, a correct decision will come in the next few days. The punishment must be commensurate with the crime. Only then can there be no “failure of justice”.

There are several other high-profile cases in Malaysia that probably need revision, too. This is especially true for cases driven by mobs baying for blood.

Even accident cases have somehow morphed into murders.

An intoxicated driver rammed into a motorcyclist. He was an idiot, a brainless dolt who took a life unnecessarily and he should be punished.

However, highly-charged emotions saw him being charged with murder. Days later, yet another intoxicated idiot drove his trailer into a van, killing three and injuring two others. He too has been charged with murder.

The question most people are asking is: “Can the charges stick?”

One of the key ingredients of murder is intent, or motive.

Just as in the Altantuya case, neither idiot driver had “intent”. It will take some doing for the prosecution to get a verdict of guilt.

Some lawyers are saying the charges are likely to be lowered once the cases go to court, and things cool off. We shall see.

More recently, a teacher rammed into two students, killing one and sending another to hospital with serious injuries. Will she face a serious charge too? I hope not.

After all, the police say she accidentally pressed the accelerator and lost control of her car. It was an accident. And accidents do happen.

Thankfully, the Transport Ministry is not about to bow to the lynch mob. The minister has said there will be no death penalty for traffic offences.

Those who cause deaths on the road may be made to pay hefty sums to the kin of the victims, but there will be no “life for a life”, or “eye for an eye”.

Because that, like Mahatma Gandhi once said, will only make the whole world go blind. Mob rule will never bring justice.