Trial by social media must cease
Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain has been charged in court for causing hurt and proceedings have yet to commence. The evidence against him has yet to unfold but the comments on social media are raging.
This has to cease as it does not do any party, any favours in ensuring that justice will be done.
It is extremely perturbing this incident has to be ventilated in court as it involves essential enforcement agencies of the government and the possibility of revealing how covert operations, intelligence, evidence from observation, deployment, instructions, are carried out as it will to some extent, become public knowledge.
It does not augur well for the agencies concerned in particular to the image of all the relevant parties involved notwithstanding the effect it will have on similar duties in future.
Earlier when this incident went viral on social media, I was of the opinion that this would have been sorted out by the respective superiors of the parties concerned.
Now that the Attorney-General's Chambers has decided to bring charges against Suhaily, we must now allow the law to take it's course although there are concerns as to how, this proceeding being ventilated in open court, can affect the structure of command and control within these agencies notwithstanding the effect it may have in public trust and confidence.
Although the matter is a summons case and can be compounded, it carries far reaching implications in all the careers and personal impact in the respective parties background in their respective agencies.
The proportion of the alleged offence and the pursuit of it in open court, may not commensurate with the overall negative impact it can have.
It is also humbly opined that the law protects all enforcement personnel, when carrying out their duties in good faith, although they may still be subjected to disciplinary admonishment if they acted unethically and improperly out of standard operating procedures.
Discretion must always be the better part of valour.
G. SELVA
Ipoh
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