KOTA KINABALU, Oct 23 — The Coroner’s Court has granted permission to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and activist Che Muna Din, also known as Mona Din, over their comments related to the death of schoolgirl Zara Qairina Mahathir.
The decision was made by judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan after submissions from deputy public prosecutors Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalan and Nadia Mohd Izhar.
Cause papers will be served on Shafie and Che Muna within two weeks, after which the coroner will set a hearing date.
On September 22, the Coroner’s Court had ordered a show cause notice to be issued to Mohd Shafie for allegedly making statements suggesting that Zara Qairina’s death was a murder and for questioning the conduct of the police investigation and the forensic pathologist.
Earlier, on September 10, the AGC issued a similar notice to activist Che Muna for remarks posted on her Facebook page that questioned the testimony of forensic pathologist Dr Jessie Hiu from Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
In the ex-parte application, Mustaffa said the show cause notice was served on Shafie on September 23 and on Che Muna on September 10.
Shafie, who is also Parti Warisan president, had responded to the notice via a letter from his counsel, former federal attorney general Tommy Thomas, on September 29.
Mustaffa said Shafie did not deny making the statement in the post and has failed to provide a satisfactory explanation in response.
He also said that although Che Muna had offered an apology through a statutory declaration, it did not absolve her of the alleged contempt.
Zara, a Form One student, was found unconscious at her hostel in the early hours of July 16 and was pronounced dead the following day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The inquest into her death began on September 3 and is still ongoing, with the court hearing the 29th witness out of an expected 68.
