Mohd Kamaruzaman A Wahab told FMT he believed it would either be an open verdict or a conclusion that Adib died from injuries sustained in an assault.

He acknowledged the possibility of a decision that an accident caused Adib’s death, but he said that would be unlikely.

The Shah Alam Coroner’s Court will convene this morning to deliver the verdict.

Adib died last Dec 17 at the National Heart Institute (IJN), 21 days after being injured during a riot at the site of the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya.

The inquest, which saw the participation of 12 lawyers, began on Feb 11 with coroner Rofiah Mohamad presiding. Thirty witnesses were called and 137 exhibits submitted before the proceedings came to a close on July 24.

Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi of Hospital Kuala Lumpur, who conducted the post-mortem examination on Adib’s body, testified that he did not find his injuries consistent with assault. He said there were no defensive wounds on the upper limbs to indicate that Adib tried to protect himself from being beaten.

He suggested that his ribs could have been broken by some strong force such as the opening of a door on an Emergency Medical Rescue Services van.

Siti Syafika Amira Mohd Rasani, a nurse at IJN, disputed Ahmad’s testimony on Facebook, claiming she had seen bruises on Adib’s face. But when called to testify, she told the court she was emotional when making the claim and had not known the facts.

”I heard from my colleague, Ashraf, that Adib told him he was beaten and I believed Ashraf,” she said.

Muhammad Ashraf Baruji, who took care of Adib at IJN, had earlier told the court that Adib indicated to him he was pulled from behind and beaten up during the temple riot.

“We communicated using sign language and a whiteboard,” he said.

Ashraf’s job was to wash Adib and assist him in nightly physiotherapy exercises.

Adib’s supervisor, Syed Shahril Anuar Sulaiman, also said he communicated with him in basic sign language when he went to IJN on Dec 5.

“When I asked Adib if he was pulled out and beaten, he responded by nodding his head and pointing to his left shoulder,” Syed Shahril testified.

Dr Shahrom Abd Wahid, a British-based forensic and pathology expert, told the court the fireman might have been pulled out of the medical van and hit on the chest by the passenger door.

He also said the injuries indicated a possibility that he was pulled out of the front seat of the van and kicked.

“The injuries on the right side of the deceased’s chest matched the triangle-like space on the passenger seat’s door knob,” he said.

Shahrom also testified to the possibility that Adib did not fight back if he was indeed assaulted after being pulled out of the vehicle, saying this could be because he was in a state of shock.

“In my view, after the deceased was pulled by those people in the riot and was hit by the medical van’s door, he would have been in pain,” he said.

However, in an earlier testimony, he said his team was not convinced that the fireman was injured in an assault.

On May 27, the lawyer representing the housing and local government ministry, Syazlin Mansor, announced her withdrawal from the inquest. It was reported that the ministry told her to withdraw following a request from the attorney-general’s chambers.

Nor Hizwan Ahmad, the political secretary to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, said in a media statement that Syazlin, who is married to the minister’s press secretary, had carried out her work “without payment and in the spirit of public service”.

A news report quoting an unnamed official in the attorney-general’s office said she had been asked to withdraw from representing the ministry because she was also representing Adib’s family.

“This creates a conflict of interest should Adib’s family decide to sue the government,” the source was quoted as saying.

On July 16, a few days before the inquest closed, lawyers representing Adib’s family filed an ex parte application against Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, saying he was in contempt of court because his office had stated how the fireman died before the coroner’s court had delivered its verdict.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers has filed an appeal against the coroner’s decision to allow Adib’s family to cite Thomas for contempt.

Haniff Khatri Abdullah, another lawyer representing Adib’s family, has said the proceedings on the ex parte application would not interrupt today’s decision on the inquest.