Digest on Malaysian News

Police Brutality At Illegal Immigrants Detention Centres, Corrupted cops from Gemas Police Station get light punishment, Rapist in the Subang Jaya Police Station, Wake up call for Inanam police station, and more. When is this police brutality and blunders ever going to stop.

I have no feeling for car thief and criminal but for the case of A. Kugan who died while in police custody as alleged by his family member, the police are way to much. It is part of their job to "torture" suspect to extract vital information regarding a case, but seriously injured a suspect and/or causing death while the suspect is in detention is not part of their job. That would make the police as criminal themselves.






From SuaraKeadilan Online

How many more Kugans have to die before there is change?

The fact that his relatives had to barge into the mortuary shows the growing distrust Malaysians feel towards the police, and highlights how the important next month’s reform bill is and why a truly independent commission must be set up.

It is also a sharp reminder to the Barisan Nasional government - in particular, the prime minister of the day - of the neglect the Indian community feels …

By Wong Choon Mei

The sudden death of 22-year old Kugan Ananthan, who died in mysterious circumstances while in police custody, is the latest wake-up call in a long-running series to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that concrete steps must be taken to curtail the police and protect the rights of civilians.

It is also a sharp reminder to the federal government of the extent of dissatisfaction in the Indian community. The speed with which Indian Malaysians rallied behind Kugan’s family is an unmistakable sign of their growing disillusionment with the administration and its policies.

“The government needs to show it is taking a strong stand against torture, especially with the country’s human rights record set to be scrutinised by the United Nations Human Rights Council in February,” said Hazel Galang, Amnesty International’s Malaysia Researcher.

“This is why a proper and effective reform bill on the police and other enforcement agencies must be established urgently,” said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia.

At least 10 people died in police custody in 2007. Despite continuing reports of such deaths and of excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrations, the federal government has yet to implement key recommendations for police reform.

Abdullah, due to step down in March, has however promised to table new law in Parliament next month that should see the establishment of a special complaints commission to monitor and investigate complaints of misconduct by the police and other law enforcement officers.

Nevertheless, civil groups and opposition politicians are worried the outgoing PM will not be able to garner enough support from his own political coalition to push through an effective and long-overdue solution.

They believe the 68-year old is likely to rush through another watered-down version that will not capture key recommendations of a 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry on police abuse of power and corruption.

Civil groups have previously said the independence of any monitoring commission was all important.

In particular, they are concerned about who will be the commissioners that sit on the decision-making panel, who would appoint and dismiss them, and also if the commission would be empowered to oversee the police investigation into complaints.

What happened to 22-year old Kugan …

Meanwhile, two deputy ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, S K Devamany and T Murugiah, were involved in the latest incident of alleged police brutality.

Both ministers were at the Serdang Hospital when a group of about 50 people, mostly Kugan’s relatives, barged into the mortuary where his body was kept. It is believed his relatives were tipped off on the condition of his body, which showed extensive bruises all over.

“I went there to see how I could help the situation. These are poor people and they are not empowered enough to tackle this by themselves,” said Devamany.

“I watched the video recording of Kugan taken at the mortuary. The footage revealed severe marks on his body, deep cuts on his wrists and bruises on his legs. Blood was oozing from his nose,” said opposition lawmaker Charles Santiago, the DAP Member of Parliament for Klang.

“Kugan was held under a two-week remand to facilitate police investigations linking him to several car theft cases. The job of the police is clearly to find enough evidence to charge him in court. It was not to beat him to death,” Santiago added.

Another lawmaker S Manikavasagam, KeADILan MP for Kapar, has called on Selangor police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, to immediately resign.

“I call for his resignation because he has not been truthful. The victim would not have died if he was not brutalised,” Manickavasagam said. “We have two witness who have proof in this case. We will be exposing this soon.”

Khalid has drawn the anger of the Malaysian public, not just the Indians, for saying that Kugan died because of water in his lungs.

His announcement that the deputy ministers would be ‘interviewed’ on their role in the incident was also seen as veiled intimidation against the two.

But with pictures of Kugan’s bruised body splashed all over cyberspace, Khalid has had to promise an investigation.

“I hope the family and the public will be patient as there will be no cover-up in the investigation,” he later told the press.

Disappointment, disillusionment, distrust

The Indian Malaysian community believes it has drawn the short end of the stick in the socio-economic development of the country. Most of them blame the federal government for not launching enough programmes to alleviate their plight, or elevate their lifestyles, or bring them closer to the other communities.

After decades of relative quiet, the growing feelings of being marginalised and of being left behind have finally roused the community into action.

In the past two years in particular, they have spoken up for themselves through large-scale and nationwide street protests led by the now-outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force.

Many Indian leaders too have engaged in public shouting matches against the establishment, in particular against the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

But sadly, these highly dramatic exchanges - some of which are among themselves - have also worked against the community, with the message of their agenda drowned by the din of political brinksmanship.

Yet, the Indian Malaysians deserve their justice.

They are entitled to their share of the country’s prosperity, and steps should be taken to include and not exclude them from the other races, no matter how daunting a task.

“It is very difficult. The Indians have their rights, no doubt about it. But how to go about getting that?” said a political analyst, who requested anonymity.

“For any of the minority groups, even the Chinese for that matter, it is a long and arduous journey. Some may say they are being too hot-headed, while the Indians will say “We can’t take the pain anymore, we have no choice but to shout”. So who’s wrong and who’s right?

“Perhaps the one who is most wrong is Abdullah. As PM of the day, he has to take the blame. As leader of the country, he must see the situation from above and as a whole. It is the duty of the prime minister to reach out to the Indians, and not allow the situation to deteriorate until the community has to fight for what is due to them in such a way.”

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From TheStar

A-G tells cops to investigate Kugan’s death as murder

By LOURDES CHARLES and SHARON LING

KUALA LUMPUR: Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has asked the police to classify the death of suspected car thief A. Kugan as murder for investigation purposes.

He said he met Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar who brought photographs of Kugan, taken by both the police as well as outsiders who had gone into the Serdang Hospital mortuary.

“After studying the photos and investigation papers, I suggested to the Deputy IGP to classify the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

“If investigations and the post-mortem report reveal that he died after being assaulted, than those responsible will be charged with murder.

“If there is no evidence to suggest foul play than the matter must be laid to rest and also should not be politicised,” he said.

Deputy IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar assured Kugan’s family and the public that police would not cover up any wrongdoing by any personnel or officer.

He said an independent investigation team has been appointed for the case.

“I sympathise with the family and assure them we will not cover up for any one.

“We will uphold the law and investigate the matter professionally and with integrity,” he added.

Earlier in KUCHING, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said a full investigation will be carried out into the death.

He said although the post-mortem report found that Kugan had died due to fluid in his lungs, police would conduct an in-depth investigation to find out what had transpired.

”We will not cover up anything,” he told reporters after chairing the first tripartite meeting between the chiefs of the Royal Malaysian Police, Royal Brunei Police Force and Indonesia National Police here on Friday.

The 22-year-old Kugan died in police custody on Tuesday while being questioned in relation to several luxury car thefts.

Musa also said Kugan’s family members should not have gone into the Serdang Hospital mortuary to view the body as it could be considered tampering with evidence.

”This should not have happened and we will also investigate it as a report has been lodged,” he said.

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