The full post-mortem report of N Dharmendran, who was beaten to death while in police custody, painted a horrific picture of brutality and torture in Malaysian cells.
And whether Prime Minister Najib Razak's government chooses to admit guilt or not, the track record of infamy and some say "institutionalized murder" can no longer be denied. Many pathologists and medical care staff - even from government hospitals - are starting to come forward, no longer able to keep silent and continuing to abet the authorities in suppressing the truth.
On Saturday, as he had promised, N Surendran, the lawyer for Dharmendran's family, exposed the details of the autopsy report at a packed press conference. The report confirmed the worst fears of "horrific" torture that spared "not a single inch" of Dharmendran's body. Not only did his interrogators use staples to hurt him, they hit him hard and repeatedly, and there were clear rotan marks indicating that they had also used a stick to beat him.
"There are 52 marks of injury itemised in this report .. identified on the body by Dr Siew, the forensic expert," said Surendran.
"Dharmendran's body was found, handed over to the hospital with bleeding from staples embedded in both ears. He was beaten around the abdomen area, navel, hip bone, loins and lower areas, kidneys, under the armpits, on his feet, bottom of his soles, every inch of his body. The entire chest area was blackened from the beatings and there were severe bruises on his shoulders that indicated he was or on the floor and the beating came from above."
"The bruises were quite big, these are not small spots, and inconsistent with what we saw on the body - huge patches of bruises, so the beatings would have to be quite heavy for the bruises to be so large."
Beatings were heavy: Dharmendran could not protect or defend himself
Surendran also pointed to bruises around the wrists that indicated Dharmendran had been handcuffed and unable to defend himself or to retaliate. In summary and conclusion of the report, this was confirmed. " No defensive wound was identified on the body of the deceased," wrote Dr Siew.
"He was probably handcuffed from behind, sitting like that or kneeling while the blows came from the top. He would not have been able to defend himself in anyway. He was just an object to be tortured at will," said Surendran, demonstrating the possible scenario.
The police, Home Minister and authorities tried to cover up: They told repeated lies on TV
The lawyer went on to discuss with the press the 10-point summary and conclusion of the autopsy report (scroll below).
In particular, Surendran pointed to the second point, where it was stated 'There was no significant natural disease found in his body that could have caused or contributed to his death at that particular moment in time'.
"This is a key finding because immediately after death because, Ku Chin Wah the KL CID chief came out with a statement that Dharmendran was taken to the hospital with chest pains and died there. In other words they were trying to make it seem Dharmendran died from some sort of disease. Point No. 2 puts an end to that speculation. It makes the police liars, it makes Ku Chin Wah a liar and this lie is being repeated over and over again. On television, the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police all try to make it seen like it was a health problem. (But) He was completely healthy.
Najib must personally explain
"Point no. 3 was the most horrific thing. The Prime Minister must personally respond and explain to the people of this country how it is that a suspect in police custody can be tortured with staples in the ears and all over the body. This is Gestapo-style torture. This is Japanese secret police-style torture. And it happened in our police lockup"
Surendran slammed the Najib administration and in particular Home Minister Zahid Hamidi for trying to distract the public's attention from what he said was the crux of the case - a refusal to confront the reality of the situation and take action against the perpetrators because they came from the police force - a key bastion of votes for Najib's Umno party.
"With this post-mortem report, there is enough evidence to bring murder charges . 4 policemen have been transferred to desk duty. This is a joke. They must be arrested and charged immediately. And by immediately, I mean by today, by this hour," said Surendran.
Double standards: Why the stubborn refusal to give Dharmendran & his family justice
Surendran pointed out that the police had already received a copy of the report by 11am on Friday, May 31.
"But why have the police not arrested anyone? I would have thought they would have rushed to make arrests. Have they taken action? No? Desk duty!" said Surendran.
"This is the demand of every right thinking Malaysian, I also want to add when you look at the enormity of the report how ridiculous the Home Minister is when he talks about the (police conduct panel) EAIC. We are talking about murder, a non-bailable offense. Why are playing for time, why are the stalling why don't they want to give justice to this family."
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