It must be appreciated that a Policeman on car patrol have a duty to ensure the safety of the General Public. In a car chase he has to make split second decisions and decide who he is pursuing is a criminal on the run or just a joy rider without a licence. A Policeman's work is made tougher when patrolling at night when visibility is low.
Aminulasyid trial: Police have right to shoot, say cop’s lawyers
(MI) SHAH ALAM, Jan 28 — The defence lawyer for Aminulrasyid Amzah’s accused killer argued today that his client was given the right to shoot, although he did not intend to kill the deceased 15-year-old.
M. Athimulan, the lawyer for Corporal Jenain Subi, said Jenain was merely attempting to stop the fleeing car, during the submission in the Sessions Court here.
He quoted witnesses’ accounts of the teenage joyrider driving at about 120km to about 130km an hour, where the speed limit was at 60km.
In addition, witnesses claimed that the teenager had also run a red light in the middle of the high-speed chase.
“The car was doing a zig-zag, it was an endangerment to the public,” he said.
Aminulrasyid was driving a Proton Iswara Aeroback with the registration number plate BET 5023 just before he was shot to death last year.
He was gunned down at the end of a high-speed police car chase across the state capital in the early hours of April 26.
Earlier, the policemen who had pursued him in two patrol cars testified that the schoolboy’s refusal to pull over, coupled with his road devil antics, had caused them to think he was a criminal on the run.
Jenain, 48, a patrolman attached to the Section 11 police station here, was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder of Aminulrasyid.
He faces up to 30 years’ jail and a fine if found guilty.
Constable Izham Mahayaddin had testified that he had fired gunshots at the white Proton Iswara to stop the speeding vehicle.
Constable Mohamad Hafizd Mohd Yusof, who was driving a patrol car with Jenain as his passenger, had also said he saw the latter fire gunshots at the Proton Iswara in Jalan Tarian 11/2 in Section 11 here.
Corporal Azhar Hashim, who was driving one of the patrol cars during the pursuit, testified that shooting at the Proton Iswara was the only way policemen could have stopped the speeding vehicle.
He said the Proton Waja and Proton Wira patrol cars could not overtake the Proton Iswara during the car chase.
Aminulrasyid was found dead on that road after a bullet pierced through his brain.
His friend Azamuddin Omar, who was the front-seat passenger in Aminulrasyid’s car, survived the ordeal.
Athimulan said there was a lack of evidence to prove the person who had fired the bullet that had killed Aminulrasyid.
“There is no evidence of deliberate act of shooting,” he said.
He explained that it was an unintentional act of the shooter who was aiming at the the car to stop it.
“The police have the legal right to stop the car.
“Based on the facts of this case, the arrest was justified. This is not a case of indiscriminate shooting,” he said.
Athimulan said it was his client’s duty to stop reckless and unlawful behaviour, and in this case, he acted on the suspicion of a fleeing robber.
“He was given the right by the government to protect the country, and that was what he did,” he said.
He said the law empowered the police to prevent one from committing a seizable offence, such as driving in a manner that endangered public safety.
Salim Bashir, also Jenain’s lawyer, said his client had good intentions to stop the car.
“The situation triggered him to think that it is a criminal who is trying to run away, not a 15-year-old boy,” he said.
Salim added the police were given guns to discharge when the need to do so arises.
“He should be commended for doing that,” he said.
Investigating officer ASP Abdul Halim Haji Ismail had said that Aminulrasyid had committed a string of offences, including reckless and dangerous driving, during the pursuit that had ended in his fatal shooting.
Throughout the trial, the defence has focused on Aminulrasyid’s alleged reckless driving that caused the police to shoot in order to arrest what they thought to be a fleeing criminal.
Since Jenain’s trial began on October 12 last year, the prosecution has put 39 witnesses on the stand.
Judge Latifah Mohd Tahar postponed submissions to January 31 to hear the rest of the prosecution team’s submission.
My heartfelt sympathies for the family of Allahyarham Aminul Rasyid but I empathise with Police Officer Corporal Jenain Subi too.
I pray that justice will prevail in the end.
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