EVEN the strongest of wills can be stretched to breaking point.
This was evident from Siti Kasim’s revelation of her 2018 ordeal of being arrested by the Kajang police.
Not only was the human rights activist and lawyer cuffed and made to wear the standard orange boiler suit, she was paraded as such for the media when the cops applied to have the remand order extended.
The 62-year firebrand activist also shared she was made to appear in public minus her b*a and pant*es. She is now suing the police force for that ordeal.
Recounting that she was taken to Semenyih lock up to be detained as it was the only facility for women, the legal eagle was obviously greatly shaken mentally in the manner she was treated.
The case involves a confrontation with the police who attempted to take her client Anis Nur Izzaty Ruslan into custody.
“They cuffed me even though I wasn’t resisting arrest. They said it was part of procedure,” she outlined in her latest YouTube rant from the Netherlands where she is attending a special programme for human rights defenders at the behest of the Dutch government and an NGO (via the Human Rights Fund).
That wasn’t the worst part as Siti Kasim was forced to share a cell with two other detainees with no facilities whatsoever aside from a toilet with no bidet or running water to cleanse oneself “after one’s big business”.
Forced to remove all her clothing including her undergarments, the senior citizen lawyer was made to sleep on a solid concrete block in the regulatory prison uniform (she had chosen orange instead of purple).
“They didn’t provide anything. It was bloody cold that night,” lamented the Orang Asli advocate who only realised how her past traumatic experiences dealing with the police has impacted her life while attending therapy sessions courtesy of her three-month human rights programme.
“Moreover, the only water is that which came out when you flush so you need to quickly do whatever washing needed quickly with your hands … it was simply horrible.”
Recalling the eye opening inhumane conditions detainees are subjected to, the Queen Mary University of London alumni lashed out:
“It is simply incredible what they tried to do me. What they’ve done to me is to actually shut me up and to scare me at the same time.
“Same with the bombs under my car. There is still no result as to who planted the IEDs (improvised explosive devices).”
Siti Kasim went on to reveal that the reason she has uploaded this latest clip was to retort the testimony provided by a police officer in the on-going legal suit proceedings.
“He claimed that they (the police) treated me really well by giving me fruit juice but no food or drink was provided,” she lambasted. “You can lie on the witness stand but you are talking rubbish and it’s not true.”
Editor’s Note: The Kajang Magistrate’s Court eventually dismissed the remand application to hold Siti Kasim for four days over allegations that she had obstructed police officers from discharging their duties.
Unable to contain her anger when updated by her lawyers back home that the police had claimed to have treated her with care and consideration because she is a “celebrity”, Siti Kasim countered that if they wanted to treat her well, there was no need to arrest her in the first place nor apply for a remand order.
“Do you know what it is to act with credibility and dignity,” she asked indignantly.
Nevertheless, Siti Kasim was visibly moved to tears when recounting how eight fellow lawyers turned up in court seven years ago to contest her remand order.
Those tears probably also underlined the emotional and psychological toll the ordeal had placed on her.
Did the police follow correct procedure or have they overstepped boundaries in a perceived attempt to silence a vociferous social activist?
The public keenly awaits the outcome of this case as it may re-define what is proper police procedure in cases such as this. – Focus Malaysia
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