TODAY will mark the first step towards justice for fallen fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, as far as his family is concerned.
It is a day that the family has been waiting for, as the Coroner’s Inquest into the cause of Adib’s death will enter case management so that dates can be set for the inquest proper at the Shah Alam Sessions Court.
“(For the family), this will be the first step towards justice,” Adib’s father, Mohd Kassim Abdul Hamid, 63, told the New Straits Times yesterday.
He said the family was praying that the proceedings, before Sessions judge Rofiah Mohamad, acting as coroner, would be smooth and would get to the bottom of what happened to his son.
“Find the people who did this to my son. As a father, there is now nothing I can fight for, except for justice for my son.
“We have appointed lawyers to hold a watching brief for the family during proceedings tomorrow and to guide us through the legal process. Adib’s brother, Mohd Ashraf, will also attend the proceedings tomorrow and, hopefully, everything will be smooth.”
Asked if he or his wife would go to Shah Alam from the family’s home in Kampung Tebengau Tepi Laut, Alor Star, Kassim said there were no plans yet.
“We have not been told anything about the inquest (by the authorities), but if I am needed, I will go there and cooperate.”
Adib, a 24-year-old Emergency Medical Response Service Unit member based at the Subang fire station, was reported to have been assaulted by a group of men when he and his colleagues responded to reports of burning vehicles outside the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, on Nov 27.
He was rushed to hospital and was later transferred to the National Heart Institute.
Though he showed signs of improvement, his condition took a turn for the worse and he died on Dec 17.
The temple was the scene of riots triggered by a land dispute.
Some parties claimed that it was not rioters who assaulted Adib, but that he had been hit by a fire engine that was reversing after being attacked by rioters.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, in his capacity as public prosecutor, had directed that an inquest under Section 339(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code be held to determine Adib’s cause of death.