High-profile cases expose the unprofessional professionals

Written by Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle

Malaysia’s recent high-profile judiciary cases have highlighted the lack of professionalism in our forensic services. We are aware that our judiciary and the police are tainted, but are the ancillary departments, like the Department of Chemistry also compromised? Have key personnel been threatened or are the various ancillary services simply inefficient?

Teoh Beng Hock’s Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II Trial, Kugan’s police investigation and Aminulrasyid’s trial have all revealed a shocking work culture, which is borne of malaise and indifference.

Standard operating procedures (SOP) are not adhered to. Sloppy work, slovenly attitudes, inaccurate and infrequent data recording are common.

Where data analysis is critical, it is highly probable that a secondary school science student is more conscientious about accomplishing his task. One supposes that the acid test is to ask any policeman if he trusts any of the services offered by the forensic and investigative teams.

In Teoh’s investigation, local pathologists missed vital clues, a psychiatrist’s interview with Teoh’s family though approved never materialised, the DNA of at least two men were unmatched, fingerprints though dusted were not lifted, a note purportedly Teoh’s was only produced in the latter stages of the inquest, the poison-pen letter alleging a cover-up was dismissed, interference by a person or persons unknown was reported by the investigating officer but never pursued and the search for Teoh’s watch which went missing is only just being conducted, 19 months after his death.

In Anwar’s Sodomy II trial, similar foul-ups were observed. Data was not recorded properly and not all data and observations were written down. Cross contamination seemed highly likely. People conveniently assumed other members of the investigative team would have done the right thing, like documenting or preserving samples. Those whose findings would have influenced the outcome of the trial often assume a cavalier attitude.

In a separate case, the family of Kugan, who died in police custody, came close to kidnapping his body to show to the world the true extent of the injuries he suffered at the hands of the police. Even when faced with the incriminating evidence – Kugan’s wound afflicted body – the authorities refused to grant the family’s request for a second post-mortem to be conducted on Kugan. Public pressure eventually forced the authorities to change their minds. The results of the second pathological examination came to a different conclusion from the first post-mortem.

As for Aminulrasyid who was shot dead by the police for driving without a driving licence, the police forensic investigation officer unashamedly admitted he had been careless. He had collected the spent bullet casings two (2) days after the incident, and had only worked on the trajectory of the bullet nine (9) days after the shooting. He had forgotten to instruct police photographers to take photographs of the crime scene, had omitted to interview the police officers involved, had moved Aminulrasyid’s body to the grass verge and forgot to record in his notes that he had moved the body.

It is sad to know that 53 years ago, our ancillary services were one of the best in the region. We may not have had the best technology nor been able to afford them then but we can certainly afford the latest gadgetry now.

That would be money well spent, rather than unwisely buying up Offshore Patrol Vehicles at RM1 billion a piece, or renovating Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s official residence.

But the latest machines are useless if the staff are not trained to use or maintain them. Even if both the experts and the latest equipment are perfect, the results will be rendered useless if no one adheres to the SOPs.

A week ago, 4 National Service (NS) participants died from unknown illnesses at their respective camps. There were calls for the NS to have ISO specifications. Perhaps it is more judicious to have one for the forensic services instead of for the National Service.

Najib seems to flit about the world with his large entourage, at taxpayers’ expense, trying to shore up bilateral ties, whilst simultaneously bad-mouthing Anwar. Is it any wonder that the lack of professionalism shown by Najib and his Cabinet is taken as the norm and is then adopted by our civil servants?

The sad thing is that those professionals who are accredited to a professional body or who swear allegiance to the king and country do not see fit to honour their pledge to their profession or nation.

In these high-profile cases, have the forensic experts been warned and their silence bought? Or are we seeing the true scale of an inefficient forensic service?

Can the forensic staff not search their conscience, that a man might be wrongly convicted because of their flimsy collation of evidence or wrong interpretations of the results?

What happened to commitment to the highest standards of integrity? What about expert, impartial and perceptive assessments? What about accurate and reliable data taking, recording and analysis. What happened to the passion and commitment of these forensic experts, to help solve crime? Until these are answered, Najib has no hope of delivering a high nation economy which can deliver world class solutions.