Five Taiping Prison guards to be charged with injuring inmates during 'riot'

 

Five wardens who were stationed at the Taiping Prison in Perak will be charged with injuring inmates during what the prison had framed as a “riot”.

Three will be charged with assault and causing injuries, while two will be charged with causing injuries with weapons.

Police in a statement today said the charges are over injuries to three victims, following instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers on June 29.

The wardens will be charged tomorrow morning at the Taiping Magistrate’s Court, said Bukit Aman CID director M Kumar Muthuvelu.

On Jan 17, 2025, a large group of detainees transferred to the prison were assaulted by guards while being moved to a block that was in a severely dilapidated condition and unfit for human use.

According to a Suhakam report, the prisoners had unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate against the transfer to that block.

However, they did not resist when the guards compelled them to move.

Instead, it was the guards who acted violently and later framed the inmates for causing a riot. CCTV evidence found no instance of the inmates acting violently.

Suhakam also accused Taiping Prison deputy director Shahrul Izzat Hami of instructing one of the guards to lodge a false police report about the incident, and that the guards had also concocted a lie that an inmate had issued a rape threat against one of their wives.

The commission said that, to support this narrative, prison doctors manipulated medical records with notes such as “post provocation riot” and “hostile inmate started riot”.

Last month, the Prison Department said one of its personnel had been charged under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code for alleged homicide not amounting to murder, over the death of inmate Gan Chin Eng during the incident.

In addition, five other prison officers were facing disciplinary action. It is unclear whether the same five officers are the ones facing charges tomorrow. - Mkini