Nora Quoirin's parents 'determined to stand up for justice'
The parents of Nora Quoirin have vowed to keep on fighting for an inquest into their daughter's death saying it is "a fundamental right of any citizen".
It comes after it was ruled an inquest would not be held into her death.
The teenager was found dead after 10 days missing in the Malaysian jungle while on a family holiday.
The 15-year-old’s French-Irish parents Sebastien and Meabh Quoirin have been pleading for answers ever since her body was discovered 1.6 miles (2.5km) from a holiday resort where the family had been staying in Dusun in August last year.
However, Malaysian authorities classified Nora’s death as “no further action” (NFA), according to charity the Lucie Blackman Trust, a decision which “shocked” the Quoirin family.`
They believe there are many unanswered questions around how the vulnerable teenager – born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly – came to leave her room and venture into the jungle, and whether she was alone at the time.
Meabh Quoirin told HuffPost UK: “We wish we weren’t having to call out in public for what we think is a fundamental basic human right for Nora but unfortunately it’s come to that.
“We understand that an inquest demands resource – it’s not a benign request on our part – but we truly believe it’s a fundamental right of any citizen, in particular of a vulnerable citizen, to have that quest for the truth.
“We would expect that a modern country, a fully-fledged democracy such as Malaysia, would really want to show full transparency and their deputy prime minister in person gave us that promise.
“But unfortunately, that’s just not what we’ve experienced, hence the need for an inquest and hence the need for full diplomatic support from our governments. that’s critical at this stage.”
The Quoirins said an initial post-mortem examination found Nora died from gastro-intestinal bleeding and an ulcer, likely brought on by starvation and/or stress, but that the full findings had yet to be presented.
Ms Quoirin said: “It’s going to be very difficult to explain everything but Nora deserves the truth and we deserve to know as much as we can possibly find out and we’re determined to stand up for justice in her name.”
Nora’s family last month asked the Department of Foreign Affairs for assistance in their quest for answers over the teenager’s death.
A spokesman said: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to provide ongoing consular assistance in this case.
“In line with department policy, we will not be commenting further.”
Her funeral service was held at St Brigid’s church in south Belfast in September, the church where she was baptised.
