KOTA KINABALU: The deputy public prosecutor is awaiting instructions from the Attorney-General on whether to initiate contempt proceedings against Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
DPP Mohd Fairuz Johari disclosed this when questioned by Coroner Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan about the status of the show-cause letter issued to the politician on September 22.
The show-cause letter concerned remarks allegedly made by Mohd Shafie at a public event on September 20 where he questioned the protracted duration of the inquest into Zara Qairina’s death.
Mohd Dusuki confirmed receiving Shafie’s written reply to the show-cause letter on October 2.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers stated it would not hesitate to take firm action under the law once the review is completed.
The inquest into the 13-year-old’s death entered its 18th day today.
The court heard testimony from Nor Aidora Saedon, senior director of the Centre for Quality Management and Research at the Department of Chemistry Malaysia.
She testified that bloodstains found on two pages of Zara Qairina’s diary matched the DNA profile from the teenager’s bone specimen.
Seventeen witnesses, including eight children, have testified in the inquest which began on September 3.
The proceedings will resume tomorrow with a child witness.
Zara Qairina died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and was buried the same day at Tanjung Ubi Muslim cemetery in Sipitang.
She was admitted to hospital on July 16 after being found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel in Papar at 4 am.
The Attorney General’s Chambers ordered her remains exhumed for post-mortem on August 8 before announcing the inquest into her death on August 13. – Bernama