KOTA KINABALU: A show cause notice for contempt of court has been issued to Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal over his remarks on the ongoing Zara Qairina Mahathir inquest.
Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan gave the instruction after counsel Datuk Ram Singh made the application in the proceeding on Monday (Sept 22).
He raised this issue over Shafie’s remarks allegedly made during a party dinner before proceedings to listen to a child witness’ testimony commenced.
It is learnt that Amir issued the notice to show cause for contempt of court after hearing a briefing from Ram.
Ram also replayed the video during the proceeding.
Earlier, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) said they took this matter seriously and would take strict action against anything that could disrupt the ongoing inquest.
The AGC said in a statement dated Sept 22, that such remarks from Shafie had the potential to cause inaccurate perceptions among the public and affect the ongoing court proceedings.
It said that the AGC was analysing every detail from the said speech while stressing that it would not hesitate to take action according to the law, including to start a contempt of court proceeding once the analysis was complete.
The AGC reminded the public to refrain from doing anything that could cause confusion or disrupt the ongoing proceedings.