Govt trying to 'whitewash' death in custody issue - Pakatan MPs

The Government was trying to “whitewash” the issue of deaths in custody when the Home Ministry claimed that there were less cases that what the public thought, alleged several Pakatan Rakyat MPs.

Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that out of 231 cases of custodial deaths between 2000 to 2013 May, there were "only two" cases where policemen were allegedly involved.

He insisted that allegations that there were many deaths by police brutality was merely a 'perception'.

However, Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari said that the Home Minister was simply trying to “whitewash the huge problem”.

“We are disappointed with Zahid’s insistence that out of 231 cases, 196 were caused by illnesses... is he talking about a certain sickness you get after being beaten by police?” the DAP MP asked with a wry smile.

Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said that Zahid “was not even given answering the issue”, citing the case of A Kugan in 2009, where the High Court yesterday ruled in favour of the family in a suit against the police and government.

“In the Kugan case, the police claimed that he had died of water in lungs, but yesterday the judge VT Singham had put responsibility of Kugan’s death to (Inspector-General of Police) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar who was then the Selangor chief.”

“When we have cases where the detainees are first claimed to have suffered normal illnesses or causes, then who is to believe Zahid’s figures?”

Both MPs also pointed to other high profile custodial death cases such as Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini, who were both found dead in Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission offices. They also cited more recent cases involving the police such as one Chia Chin Lee in Penang, C Sugumar and Nobuhiro Matshushita, a Japanese national.

They repeated the call for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be set up, pointing out that the current Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) was “useless”.

“It has been proven that EAIC is not capable to handle this issue, and has even lost credibility when we exposed that their investigating officer was actually someone who was involved in the Teoh Beng Hock case,” he said.

Meanwhile, Subang MP R Sivarasa said that the “suspicious death of Francis Udayapan” and P Karuna Nithi in Seremban were just two cases where no answers were ever found.

“End of the day, even if they did not die of police brutality, we still see no accountability from the authorities on this."

“If they died from medical neglect, it is still the fault of the police because it can amount to criminal negligence,” said Sivarasa.