Surendran: Cops breaching own SOP by making suspects wear lock-up garb

Padang Serai MP N Surendran has refuted the inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar over the issue of bringing suspects to court in purple lock-up uniform.

Khalid had reportedly said yesterday that it is usual practice by the police to bring suspects to court in purple lock-up uniforms to differentiate them from civilians.

However, Surendran, who is also a lawyer, insisted that the police are breaching their own standard operating procedure (SOP), in doing so.

"It is shocking that the IGP seems unaware that Bukit Aman's own SOP prohibits remanded suspects from being brought to court in lock-up uniforms," he said in a statement today.

The SOP he mentioned is titled "Prosedur Kualiti Pengurusan Lokap, Bukit Aman", which was issued on July 1, 2014.

As such, Surendran argued, the police are breaching their own SOP on the treatment of remanded suspects daily.

There is also nothing in the Lock-Up Rules 1953 that gives authority to the police to bring remanded suspects to court wearing the purple uniform, added the PKR vice-president.

"It is a cardinal principle that a suspect or accused person appearing in court must be allowed to wear his ordinary clothes, and not any kind of uniform that has the effect of branding him a criminal or wrongdoer.

"It is highly prejudicial to the suspect or accused person to force him to face the judge hearing his case wearing the lock-up uniform.

"Doing so is in clear breach of the right to a fair trial or hearing under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution," Surendran said.

Article 5 deals with fundamental liberties of a person.

Previously, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad had also welcomed anyone dissatisfied with the procedure to bring this matter to the court.

This was after Surendran earlier saying it is unlawful for MACC to force individuals arrested to facilitate graft investigations to wear orange lock-up uniforms.

In his statement today, Surendran urged the IGP and MACC chief to stop defending their practice of bringing suspects to court in lock-up uniforms.

"I urge the IGP and the MACC chief to abandon their desperate attempts to defend this illegal, unconstitutional and prejudicial practice of forcing suspects to wear lock-up uniforms.

"This practice must be ceased immediately; it must not be allowed to continue even for a day longer," he said. - Mkini