Kota Kinabalu: Warisan President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal was served with a show-cause letter from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Tuesday afternoon, over his remarks regarding the ongoing inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir.
The former Chief Minister said the letter was forwarded to his lawyer for a reply, with seven days given to respond.
“I will inform and explain (the reasons behind my remarks on Zara’s case) soon.
"As for the next course of action, I leave it to my lawyer and legal team to handle,” he told a press conference at the Warisan headquarters in Kolombong, Wednesday.
Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan made the order on Monday after counsel Datuk Ram Singh raised the matter in court, noting that a short video clip of Shafie’s comments had been screened during proceedings.
The footage, believed recorded at a recent party dinner in Sandakan, has since gone viral. In it, Shafie allegedly described Zara’s death as “murder” which prompted the lawyers representing the teenagers in the case to complain that the words were tantamount to contempt of Court.
Counsel Joan Goh (who with Ram Singh represented one of the five teenagers in the inquest) said the order was made under Order 52 Rule 2(B) of the Rules of Court and if the explanation is acceptable, then there will be no further application for leave to pursue contempt.
Earlier, Shafie said a Kota Kinabalu Native Chief Edna Majimbun has joined Warisan.
Edna is the daughter of the former Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun, one of his good friends.