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Saturday, November 17, 2018

‘No sitting in the dock for Najib’ raises double standards




What do Ho Kay Tat, the publisher of The Edge, Jahabar Sadiq, the managing editor of Malaysian Insight and Najib Abdul Razak, the former prime minister, have in common?
All three are products of the St Johns Institution in Kuala Lumpur and at one time or another; all three were arrested and spent a night in the lock-up, paid for by His Majesty’s government.
That’s where the similarities end. Ho and Jahabar were handcuffed and donned purple police lock-up uniform while Najib walked swinging his arms and avoided wearing the bright orange suit usually made available – courtesy of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
When Najib’s then deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was arrested, he too “escaped” the uniform and the handcuffs. On the contrary, other “VIP” detainees like former Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Rahim, former Felda chairperson Isa Samad and Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal were paraded in uniform with their hands cuffed.
It is an irony that the man who defended the use of the lock-up uniform – Zahid – was one of those “privileged” to be accorded the luxury of a silk batik shirt sans the handcuffs.
An irony too that the current director of commercial crime, Amar Singh Ishar Singh (the man investigating Najib), had said the handcuffing accused persons is part of the police standard operating procedure (SOP).
"It is our SOP to handcuff anyone detained - whether to escort them to the police station or the court. There is no special treatment given to anyone as we carry out our duties without fear or favour," he was quoted by The Star as saying when addressing concerns over journalists being handcuffed in the October 2015 swoop. He was then deputy federal CID director.
In December last year, Zahid thumped the tables to assert that uniform worn by criminal detainees are proper and legal, citing the powers vested in the inspector-general of police (IGP). It empowered him to issue Standing Orders under Section 97 of the Police Act which state: The Inspector General may issue administrative orders, to be called “Standing Orders”, not inconsistent with this Act or rules or Police Regulations made thereunder, for the general control, direction and information of the Force and of all bodies established or raised for police duties under this Act.
Unfortunately, these Standing Orders are classified and hence, no details are available. It must be said the prison rules allow for remand prisoners to wear civilian clothes and prison uniform is compulsory only for convicted prisoners.
The process of arrest is clearly spelt in the Criminal Procedure Code. In making an arrest, the police officer “shall actually touch or confine the body of the person to be arrested unless there is a submission to the custody by word or action.”
The issue of restraint by handcuff or other devices is exercised when a person “forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest him or attempts to evade the arrest” and all means necessary to effect the arrest can be used.
There’s a rejoinder to that: The person arrested shall not be subjected to more restraint than is necessary to prevent his escape.
So, there it goes. All that is needed is a touch on the subject’s shoulder and say he is under arrest, but if the arresting officer believes the subject will escape, he can restrain him by the use of a pair of handcuffs or other methods.
Therefore, it appears that the arresting officer can exercise his discretion. As for the uniform, perhaps, an explanation from the authorities would certainly help.
Discrepancies
The issue of these discrepancies came to the fore when A Kadir Jasin, the media and communications adviser to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, addressed questions at a dinner talk this week,
Kadir said he was puzzled that Najib was not made to wear MACC orange lock-up attire and stressed that everyone arrested by the commission should be treated equally.
The latest twist to the double standards and special privileges happened at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday. Najib refused to enter the dock meant for the accused during the case management for his 25 criminal charges related to 1MDB.
He sat on a chair beside the dock and refused to budge or move into the dock, even after being asked politely to do so by a police officer on duty who approached him upon the prosecution's orders.
Again, a case of “special treatment”, or is this allowed under the law? Lawyers say that by convention and practice, anyone accused of a criminal offence has to be seated in the dock throughout all proceedings.
These are poor examples and bad precedents which smack of preferential treatment for the haves while have-nots seem to be judged unfairly and be on the receiving end.
Unless the enforcement authorities including the courts come out with proper guidelines, claims of “double standards” will continue to echo in our judicial system.
To put an end to such accusations, there should be no discretion whatsoever allowed to be exercised by anyone – from the IGP or the chief commissioner of the MACC to the ordinary mata-mata.

R NADESWARAN says the police and the MACC are continually being attacked for having double standards and this can only be rebutted when the same set of rules are applied evenly. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com. - Mkini

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