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POLICE have the final say on whether to allow remand prisoners to meet their legal representatives.
Lawyers said the police were within their rights to deny the lawyer a meeting with the parents of murder victim Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin.
They said it was standard practice for the police not to allow any lawyer to meet with their clients during investigations.
Senior lawyer M. Visvanathan said if the case was still under investigation and at a crucial moment, it is normal police will not allow anyone to meet with the suspects.
Visvanathan, who is also a human rights activist, said even courts would not interfere.
"The court will not instruct police to allow the lawyer to meet with his clients. The court will not interfere," he added.
Fahmi Abd Moin, one of the lawyers representing the parents of Zayn, had submitted a second application to the police to meet his clients after they failed to respond to the first application.
Fahmi had hoped to meet his clients before the remand period for the couple ended.
The former deputy public prosecutor was appointed as Zayn's parents' new counsel after the couple's former counsel, Mahmud Abdul Jumaat, pulled out of the case, saying he had other cases to work on.
But on Monday, he said on Facebook he had decided to continue representating the couple after meeting with the family.
"I want to emphasise that this was an initiative by Zayn's paternal family.
"I want to help because I feel pity for them. They have not only lost their child but were also facing remand as suspects, a considerable ordeal," he said.
Visvanathan said the process of gathering evidence during remand should be respected, adding it was to seek justice.
"It is nothing extraordinary. There are many cases where lawyers were barred from meeting their clients although requests were made.
"However, in this case, the police can also allow the lawyer to meet the client. If the police find it necessary. It is up to them," he said.
Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said the police have discretion to allow lawyers to meet with suspects.
"When one is arrested, they are under police supervision. It is up to the discretion of the police. Lawyers cannot meet their clients on a daily basis as it could disrupt the investigations.
"In serious cases, usually the police will not allow it. But if a new lawyer is appointed, I think he should be given at least 30 minutes to see their clients," said Haniff.
The magistrates’ court last Friday extended the remand order against Zayn’s parents for six more days until 12 June.
The boy’s parents were initially remanded for seven days to assist in the murder case.
Last December 6, the body of six-year-old Zayn was found lying in a stream close to his home at Idaman Apartment, Damansara Damai in Petaling Jaya, after being reported missing the day before.
The child is believed to have been murdered after a post-mortem results found self-defence wounds in his body.
The couple were detained by police two weeks ago to assist in investigations.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan had said inconsistencies in the statements provided by the couple and other witnesses led police to obtain a remand extension against them.
He said the parents’ lawyers could meet their clients but it was at the police’s discretion.
"They can either meet the clients within the remand period or after. The police have the discretion to decide when" Hussein added. – June 12, 2024.
