Sweet victory for Shafee. Takdir untuk Sarbani terjatuh mati dalam kustodi!!

Coroner’s verdict absolves MACC, says lawyer

UPDATED @ 07:17:45 PM 26-09-2011

By Debra Chong

September 26, 2011

Shafee (centre) smiles as he exits the coroner’s court after the ruling on Ahmad Sarbaini’s death, in Kuala Lumpur September 26, 2011. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been “100 per cent” cleared of blame by the coroner’s court when it ruled that a Customs officer’s death in the graftbuster’s Kuala Lumpur office was by misadventure, the commission’s lawyer said today. Prominent lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who was hired to act for the national anti-graft body, beamed as he told reporters his client has been fully absolved by the verdict on the death of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed.
However, the prominent lawyer said he agreed with coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani’s observation that an MACC officer named “Kamal” had been negligent in his duty for leaving the former Customs assistant director alone at its Jalan Cochrane headquarters.
“He should not have left a person for even one second,” Muhammad Shafee said, after the verdict announcement, adding that he would advise MACC to act on the coroner’s remark.
“For sure there’ll be a follow-up on Kamal,” the lawyer told reporters.
MACC assistant superintendent Kamal Awang Besar had testified during the inquest that he left Sarbaini alone in a witness room for three to four minutes before the latter disappeared, as he wanted to get further instructions from investigating officer (IO) Abd Ghani Ali.
Kamal and another colleague with the same rank, Sheikh Niza Khairy Sheikh Mohamad, were both suspended on April 8, after the death.