Reports against police - lawyers, vigil participants called up for questioning

 

The police have summoned 12 individuals, including three lawyers, for further investigations in connection with the candlelight vigil held at Dataran Merdeka last Thursday night.

It is understood that the vigil participants and lawyers were summoned yesterday for questioning in relation to the reports lodged against the police.

When contacted, lawyer Rajsurian Pillai confirmed that he was summoned along with lawyer Farida Mohamad by the Dang Wangi police from 6pm to around 8.30pm yesterday to have their statements recorded.

"I was investigated for my role in representing those who were hauled up.

"People asked the police to investigate the police, the police went and questioned the lawyers," said Rajsurian, who represented Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat members previously questioned in connection with the #KeluarLawan protest in Kuala Lumpur on July 31.

"These individuals hauled up had always cooperated with all past investigations by the Dang Wangi police or others," he added.

Taking to Twitter, lawyer Goh Cia Yee also said he was informed that he might have his statement recorded soon.

Rajsurian, Farida and Goh were the three lawyers allowed access to 31 vigil participants hauled up to Dang Wangi last Thursday night after police moved to stop their candlelight vigil held in memory of those who died of Covid-19.

A larger group of lawyers was left waiting outside the Dang Wangi police station (photo above), unable to meet their clients.

Vigil participant and Parti Sosialis Malaysia central committee member Chong Yee Shan lodged a police report last Friday over physical injuries she allegedly sustained at the hands of five police personnel who lifted and dragged her into custody.

Meanwhile, Selangor DAP Women's Wing secretary Nalina Nair said 16 other vigil participants, including herself, lodged their individual police reports yesterday, alleging unprocedural arrest, rights denied and unlawful detention.

"We lodged similar reports. Our reports could vary based on individual experiences, but the gist is the same," she told Malaysiakini.

According to Nalina's report sighted by Malaysiakini, she was only formally informed of her arrest at around 12.30am on Friday, more than three hours after being brought to the Dang Wangi police station.

"The reason I am lodging this police report is that my rights as an arrested person, as provided for under Section 28A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), were denied by the police.

"I was not informed of my grounds of the arrest until 12.30am, more than three hours after my arrest, and that too only after my statement had been recorded under Section 112 of the CPC.

"I wasn't given any reason when I was taken to Dang Wangi and I was not informed of my rights to contact a family member," Nalina added.

In her report, she also said police had compromised their safety by forcing the vigil participants into two separate Black Marias, one for 14 women participants and the other for 17 men.

Their use of force, she said, was despite the participants' readiness to cooperate by promising to show up at the district police headquarters on their own terms for documentation purposes, as informed by the police personnel.

All 31 vigil participants were released after being slapped with RM2,000 compounds - totalling RM62,000 - for violating regulations preventing demonstrations during the pandemic. - Mkini