Civil rights lawyer Edmund Bon's suggestion that parents should sue the police for questioning their children at SK Seri Pristana without their knowledge has not fazed inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.
Police questioning primary school children without the knowledge of their parents should not be made an issue and threats of lawsuits are unreasonable given that the investigations are going, on today's issue of Utusan Malaysia quotes Khalid as saying.
"Police have ways to question children. That's why we have the sexual crimes, abuse and children's unit (D11) specifically to investigate cases involving children under the Child Act 2001, in the presence of a welfare officer, guardian or parent," Khalid reportedly said.
"However, in some cases, we can question children without first informing the parents."
He was commenting on Bon's suggestion that parents whose children were left "traumatised" after being questioned by police, should take legal action to claim damages for emotional distress.
The children were questioned in school over the shower room that had been converted into a makeshift canteen.
Police questioning primary school children without the knowledge of their parents should not be made an issue and threats of lawsuits are unreasonable given that the investigations are going, on today's issue of Utusan Malaysia quotes Khalid as saying.
"Police have ways to question children. That's why we have the sexual crimes, abuse and children's unit (D11) specifically to investigate cases involving children under the Child Act 2001, in the presence of a welfare officer, guardian or parent," Khalid reportedly said. "However, in some cases, we can question children without first informing the parents."
He was commenting on Bon's suggestion that parents whose children were left "traumatised" after being questioned by police, should take legal action to claim damages for emotional distress.
The children were questioned in school over the shower room that had been converted into a makeshift canteen.
A parent had alleged that non-Muslim children were made to eat in the shower room during Ramadan, but the school said the room had been used as a canteen for all students since March.
It said this was because the school canteen was too small to accommodate all the children.
The questioning of the children without parental knowledge or presence has invited criticism from politicians, activists, lawyers and the Human Rights Commission.
It said this was because the school canteen was too small to accommodate all the children.
The questioning of the children without parental knowledge or presence has invited criticism from politicians, activists, lawyers and the Human Rights Commission.
The DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said today, that although the Child Act 2001 is silent on the matter, the police should respect the spirit of the Act, which aims to protect children.
"I urge IGP to do the right and common sense thing - to respect the spirit of the Child Act and to issue a directive and appropriate guidelines to the police to ensure that the rights of children are respected and protected at all times," she said in a statement.
"I urge IGP to do the right and common sense thing - to respect the spirit of the Child Act and to issue a directive and appropriate guidelines to the police to ensure that the rights of children are respected and protected at all times," she said in a statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.