Form body for migrants to report on corrupt cops, urges NGO

Tenaganita claims corrupt policemen target the same victims to extort money while threatening to deport them.

PETALING JAYA: The government should form an independent body for immigrants to report on corrupt policemen who extort from them, says Tenaganita.

Its director, Aegile Fernandez, said immigrants often fell victim to policemen who conducted unauthorised checks which in many cases led to money extortion.

“There should be a clear independent avenue where these victims can make their reports,” Fernandez told FMT while suggesting that immigrants look to Suhakam as one of the avenues to make their reports.

Fernandez was commenting on a case in which three policemen on patrol duty, including a lance corporal, were caught and penalised for conducting an unauthorised check on a foreign woman by the roadside.

The discovery was made on Tuesday by Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar while he was driving near Eco World in Semenyih at about 4.30pm.

The trio, aged between 25 and 36, were assigned desk duties for a month and ordered to undergo foot drills – non-stop marching and running – from 11am to 1pm at the Semenyih police station.

Fernandez said such cases were not new and that many immigrants had fallen victim to corrupt policemen.

“Many of these immigrants have no legal documents which makes it easier for corrupt policemen to extort money from them,” she added.

She said corrupt policemen targeted and repeatedly extorted money from the same immigrants.

The victims

Muhammad (not his real name), a 22-year-old construction worker from Indonesia who has been living in Malaysia for the past few years, claimed he was used to policemen extorting money from him.

He said he had been repeatedly accosted by policemen who demanded that he give them money or else he would be deported.

Sharing his experience, he claimed that normally a few policemen would be involved, adding that they conducted checks at secluded areas late at night.

He was once confronted by a group of policemen at Putrajaya at around 1.30am, and they cleaned him out of every sen he had. He was doubly unlucky as he was extorted on the day he got paid by his employer and he lost all his pay.

“They would be dressed like civilians and claim they are doing undercover checks.

“They would normally ride in police cars and pull you over. Once they find out that you are an illegal, they will arrest you and take you for a ride,” he said.

During the ride, the policemen would force him to hand over his money.

Muhammad added that he had no choice but to pay as he did not want to risk being deported back to Indonesia. -FMT