Man claims wrongful detention by police, assault over several days

A lawyer claimed that police detained his client in different lock-ups for several days without remand and physically abused the man.

BA Ganaesh Rau (photo, above) told Malaysiakini that his client, S Krishnan, is now being detained for 21 days under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca).

He said Krishnan, 48, a lorry driver, had suffered 17 days of being thrown into several lock-ups since Sept 2.

Ganaesh said his client was arrested by Ampang police on Sept 16 to facilitate investigation into a theft case. Prior to this, Krishnan had been arrested several times since Sept 2, by police in different districts.

"My client informed me that the court rejected the remand application. Hence, he should have been released.

"Surprisingly, the police kept him until today (yesterday, Thursday) which is false imprisonment."

Ganaesh said Krishnan was brought to the High Court in Shah Alam yesterday, where he was arrested under the controversial Poca.

The lawyer explained that Krishnan's ordeal began when he was arrested on Sept 2 by the Ampang police.

"When I met Krishnan on that day, he revealed that police had heavily beaten him and I saw fresh marks on his legs. He was asked to confess to committing the offences," he said, adding that the abuse stopped when the police learned that Krishnan has a lawyer.

Since then, Krishnan was moved to other police station lock-ups, including in Petaling Jaya, Hulu Selangor and Sungai Buloh. He was sent back to the Ampang police station on Sept 15.

"He was even investigated by the police for stealing a money box at a mosque, over an incident that allegedly took place in April 2019.

"Police attempted to link him to cases which were unrelated to him," Ganaesh said.

He said Krishnan's family only managed to visit him twice - when he was detained on Sept 2, and again yesterday (Thursday), where they managed to have a brief conversation at the court.

"The family was not informed whenever he was arrested. The police also infringed the Criminal Procedure Code in failing to inform on the status of the suspect within 24 hours of the arrest."

When contacted, Ampang Jaya District police chief Noor Azmi said the lawyer could lodge a complaint with the Bukit Aman Integrity and Compliance to Standards Department (JIP) and the inspector-general of police if he believed that police had broken the law.

"He has the right to complain. He can write a letter to JIP or IGP," Noor Azmi told Malaysiakini in a text reply.

For the record, Pakatan Harapan, in its manifesto, had pledged to abolish Poca, along with several other laws, including the Sedition Act 1948, the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the National Security Council Act 2016.

It has also promised to abolish “draconian provisions” in the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015. - Mkini