The long wait for redress by the woman who was videotaped doing nude squats at a Petaling Jaya police station in 2005 ended today when the constable involved and the government agreed to pay compensation.
The settlement was recorded before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Lau Bee Lan today.
Hemy Hamisa Abu Hasan Saari, 28, is now married and a mother of three children.
She was not present in court, nor was the amount of compensation disclosed today.
Lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu(left) and Hazizah Kasim appeared for Hemy Hamisa, while the government was represented by Nor Mastura Ayob.
Her ordeal began six years ago when the widely-circulated video, taken by the said constable, resulted in a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) chaired by former chief justice Dzaiddin Abdullah.
The inquiry called the practice of forcing detainees to strip naked and squat a violation of human rights and unacceptable under Islam.
When she filed her suit in 2005, Hemy Hamisa had soughtRM10million in compensation, saying what happened to her "was not fair" due to the public humiliation she suffered as a result of the policeman's actions.
Hemy Hamisa still has a pending drug possession charge, on which the Petaling Jaya Magistrate's Court will deliver its verdict on Aug 8 at the end of the prosecution case.
Baljit told reporters that his client wants to put this chapter of her life behind her and concentrate on her family.
"This is an unfortunate incident which has caused a lot of embarrassment in her life.
"The constable who recorded the tape and distributed it was irresponsible and had caused her much humiliation. She is glad with the settlement and wants to continue on with her life," said Baljit.
According to the facts of the case, Hemy Hamisa was arrested between 1am and 2am on June 29, 2005, during an operation by a narcotics police team.
At the police station where she was held, Hemy Hamisa was told to strip by Lans Koperal Wan Zawati @ Zalina Wan Ismail and do nude squats.
While doing the squats in an unlocked room, the first defendant in the suit - Konstable Mohd Dzulfatah Saari - recorded it on his handphone through a window into the room, without Hemy's knowledge.
This resulted in the said video being widely distributed via handphones, print and electronic media.
Besides Dzulfatah, the Malaysian government was named in the suit.
It was initially thought that the woman in the video was a Chinese national.
Hemy Hamisa, who appeared in the RCI chaired by Dzaiddin (left) for five days, confirmed she was the individual in the video.
Still in practice
In January 2006, the government said it would introduce legislation to ban the practice following recommendations by the RCI to improve the Criminal Procedure Code.
Until today, however, enforcement authorities still resort to nude squats, purportedly to dislodge any drugs or other items concealed in the body of detainees.
In June this year, two Singaporean nationals were subjected to the practice after they were found to have entered Malaysia without being vetted by Immigration Department officials.
The findings of the internal probe into that incident has yet to be disclosed.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein later confirmed that two immigration officers in charge of the detention centre had been suspended over an incident.
The duo were suspended pending an internal investigations by a seven-member panel from the ministry. - Malaysiakini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.