Police give their take on lock-up row

Malacca police say a bank manager was detained because he refused to produce his IC.

PETALING JAYA: A bank manager was arrested for refusing to produce his identity card and driving licence and not because he was not wearing a seat belt, Malacca police chief SAC I Chua Ghee Lye said today.

He said that police did not abuse their power when they detained the bank manager, Edmund Hiew Kok Ming, who is also a DAP member.

“The incident occurred on Jalan Laksamana Cheng Hong at about 9pm on May 28. The manager together with three other persons were in a Toyota Avanza when a traffic officer noticed that the driver was not wearing a seat-belt,” Chua told FMT.

He said that when the police officer tried to flag down the car, the driver at first refused to halt. He only stopped after some 150 metres down the road.

“When the officer asked the driver for his IC and licence, he refused to give. He even told my officer he had no authority to ask for his licence. The officer explained to the bank manager that he was only doing his duty.

“After several attempts, the man surrendered his IC but still refused to hand over his licence. He only gave a receipt of his renewed licence. He even started scolding my officer in Chinese,” said Chua.

He said the officer then warned Hiew that he was obstructing the law by not producing his document. It was only when the officer called for back-up that the driver relented and produced his licence.

“Yes, he did take a photograph of the policeman but that’s not an issue. There’s nothing wrong with taking a picture; we did not arrest him for that,” said Chua.

He said that Hiew’s case had been submitted to the deputy public prosecutor to decide if there is a case, adding that the police would also be taking down a few more statements.

Sufficient grounds

On the allegation that the police did not inform Hiew of his offence, Chua said it was done as it was part of the standard procedures.

“However, I am told that he was informed of his rights to a lawyer but I cannot confirm it,” he added.

“The DAP wants to bring up this issue and I cannot fault them. It is doing its job as an opposition party,” he said.

“But as far as we’re concerned, the manager had committed an offence by questioning police’s authority… The public should be aware that whenever a policeman asks for your identity card, you are legally bound to hand it over,” he said.

When asked why Hiew was held for three days, Chua said the remand order was sought to record all the necessary statements.

“The magistrate must have been satisfied that there are sufficient grounds to hold him longer… perhaps he was hostile or uncooperative,” said Chua.

Earlier today, Hiew, 26, had reportedly accused the Malacca police of arresting, handcuffing and putting him in the lock-up for three nights for merely not wearing a seat-belt while driving with four friends last month.

Hiew, together with DAP leaders, claimed at a press conference today that the police had abused their powers for detaining him after accusing him of allegedly obstructing them from discharging their duties on the night of May 28.

“I was accused of obstructing a civil servant from carrying out his duties by uttering to the police sergeant, ‘Lu apa kuasa mau ambik gua punya IC dan lesen’ (What powers do you have to take my IC and licence?),” Hiew reportedly said in an online newsportal, but denied saying those words.

Hiew, who admitted he did not wear his seat belt, said he cooperated with the sergeant and had handed over his identity card and driving licence.

But he alleged that the sergeant became angry when he took pictures of the situation. The officer even allegedly threatened to put Hiew in jail and inform his employer so that he would be fired.

The police said Hiew’s offence fell under Section 186 of the Penal Code for trying to obstruct policemen from carrying out their duties.

Hiew was held in the Melaka Tengah police station and then transferred to the traffic station before being released on May 31.

He also alleged that the police did not tell him the grounds for his arrest, which, according to lawyer and DAP’s Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, was the right of a detained person.

Lim also said that police contravened Section 28A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) by not telling Hiew that he had the right to see a lawyer.