SHAH ALAM: Four lawyers from the Attorney-General's Chambers have been appointed to represent the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department at the inquest into the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
The counsel, senior Federal counsel Suzana Atan, Mazlifah Ayob, Fadzilatul Isma Ahmad Rafngah, and Federal counsel Afiq Zainal Abidin, were introduced at the Coroner's Court today.
Their appointment came after Attorney-General Tommy Thomas asked Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin to withdraw lawyer Syazlin Mansor's appointment, citing conflict of interest as one of the reasons.
Syazlin, who is representing Muhammad Adib's family, also acted on behalf of both the ministry and department.
Following this, Syazlin withdrew from representing all three interested parties on May 27 but returned as the lawyer representing the victim's family.
"The attorney general's request to the minister (Zuraida) was only for her to withdraw from representing the ministry and Fire and Rescue Department," said inquest conducting officer Deputy Public Prosecutor Faten Hadni Khairuddin, saying that there were no objections against her representing Muhammad Adib's family.
Judge Rofiah Mohamad then fixed July 3, 4, and 5 for the court to hear the testimony of the inquest's 29th witness retired pathologist Dr Shahrom Abd Wahid.
The Coroner's court also set July 16 and 17 to hear from a physics expert on the calculation to determine the force of impact needed to cause Muhammad Adib's injuries.
Dr Shahrom in his testimony had previously said there was not enough impact coming from the door of the Fire and Rescue Department's Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) van to cause Muhammad Adib's injuries, which later proved fatal.
His theory contradicted forensics expert Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi's testimony, in which he said there was enough force from the van's door to injure Muhammad Adib.
Dr Shahrom instead put forward the theory that the fireman could have been forcefully pulled out from the van he was in, while several persons were kicking the door of the van, resulting in his injuries.
This contradicted Dr Ahmad Hafizam's theory that there was enough force from the van's door to injure Muhammad Adib.
Dr Ahmad Hafizam, who is the inquest's 24th witness, conducted the post-mortem on the fireman's body and ruled that the fireman's injuries were inconsistent with an assault.
Muhammad Adib, 24, and his team members from the Subang Jaya fire station responded to an emergency call at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple during a riot on Nov 26.
The victim, who sustained serious injuries, was taken to SJMC before being transferred to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for further treatment. He later died on Dec 17.