Effective Rights

I disagree with Pirated Victim (Shock over Puchong MP standing up for wanted criminals, The Star 7^th September 2008). Pirated victim had been a victim of criminals and thus feels very strongly that any means could be used to eradicate criminals from our streets.

However, Pirated Victim must also understand that the police cannot be the judge, jury and executioner of criminals. The duty of the police is to investigate the crime, apprehend the suspect and the Deputy Public Prosecutor will prosecute that person in court. The suspect, as he is still not convicted will have a right to defend himself in court. Then only will the judge decide and the corrections institutions do their part if and when the suspect is sentenced. Only then is he guilty and becomes a convict.

This is the judicial process that we all must adhere to. The police cannot be given powers that allow them to kill criminal suspects. It is understandable that there will be casualties when a shoot-out happens. However, there are documented instances and empirical research that suggest the police have got it wrong when they have injured innocent people thinking they were highly wanted suspects.

The notion that the suspects are able to buy time through the wits of their lawyers is true but if the police had thoroughly investigated the case, produced all the sufficient evidence in court and had not made any technical errors, there would be no cause for concern. The police need more funds to get the high-tech equipments used by law enforcement agencies around the world and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) needs to weed out the negative elements in the police force that help these criminals.

There are also many disturbing questions that all the other law enforcement agencies should look at. Why are there so many gun-related crimes in the last few years? Guns have never been a feature of criminal activities in Malaysia. How are these weapons being smuggled in? There have been many reports that illegal immigrants are committing these crimes. Why are these people still in the country? How did they get in? Where did they obtain the weapons?

Thus it is important in order to maintain law and order, that everyone involved behave professionally and ethically. We do not want to create a vigilante society that operates outside the scope of the law. The country cannot afford to have people taking the law into their own hands.

It is also important to note that everyone deserves to have the opportunity to defend themselves. This is the pillar of a comprehensive criminal justice system and the foundation of our believes in a truly democratic country.