Five lawyers win suit against police, government

Five lawyers on Friday won their suit against the police and government over their arrest, wrongful detention and false imprisonment five years ago.

High Court Judge Datuk John Louis O'Hara, in allowing their suit, held that their arrest by the defendants was wrong and unlawful.

He awarded the lawyers, comprising Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Murnie Hidayah Anuar, Puspawati Rosman, Syuhaini Safwan and Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal, RM15,000 each in general damages and RM60,000 in aggravated and exemplary damages.

The court also ordered the defendants to pay RM60,000 in costs to Fadiah, Murnie, Puspawati and Syuhaini, and RM40,000 to Ravinder Singh.

In his ruling, O'Hara held that the arrest amounted to false imprisonment and that the plaintiff were denied of their constitutional right when after their arrest, they were also not allowed access to legal representation.

He said the court found the evidence by defendant witness DSP Judy Blacious Pereira, who is known as Jude, inconsistent.

The court also found Pereira's reasons in invoking Section 28A (8) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to deny arrested persons to legal representation as unreasonable based on the circumstances of the candlelight vigil.

"The reasons given by Jude for invoking Section 28A has led this court to doubt the authenticity of the reason," the judge said.

Four of the lawyers had filed the suit on May 4, 2012, naming Constable Fauziah Mustafa, Inspector Azlina Norzali, Constable Noor Balkhis Maazin, then Brickfields police chief ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, Pereira, then Inspector-General of Police and the Malaysian government as defendants.

Another, Ravinder Singh filed a separate suit on May 7 the same year against Pereira, Wan Abdul Bari, Lance Corporal Saha'ri Ehwa, the then Inspector-General of Police and the government, also for the same reason.

In their statement of claims, the lawyers stated that on May 7, 2009, they were outside the compound of the Brickfields police station to provide legal assistance to their 14 clients who were arrested on that day detained on that day for participating in a candlelight vigil for a human right activist, Wong Chin Huat.

The lawyers claimed they were prevented from entering the compound of the police station to meet their clients.

Fadiah, Murnie, Puspawati and Syuhaini, who were then volunteers with the Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre, claimed that they were taken in a car to the Travers police station at 5am on May 8, 2009 and then released on police bail at noon.

Meanwhile, Ravinder claimed that he was arrested and detained for 16 hours on May 7, 2009.