INSTEAD of calling for proof, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador should provide evidence that the detainees recently arrested over alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group were not mistreated, Malaysiakini reported one of the accused’s lawyer as saying.
T. Rajasekaran, who represents scrap metal dealar A. Kalaimughilan, said it should not be hard for Hamid to provide the evidence.
“You placed them in Bukit Aman and then Sg Buloh Prison; shouldn’t you deliver the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage or lock-up diary to prove there were no abuses?
“I think (Hamid) needs to first prove there are CCTVs placed inside the interrogation room, prison or even the lock-up,” Rajasekaran, who is also MIC Legal Bureau head, told the news portal.
“It’s not as if there has never been death or abuse in police custody in the last few years. So, pardon my apprehension over your statement that there has never been any abuse here,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Yesterday, Hamid had urged those who had made such allegations to produce evidence, including CCTV camera footage of the alleged misconduct in court.
“I strongly deny all the public allegations of unlawful act or misconduct by our police officers against any of the LTTE detainees made by their lawyers and certain politicians.
“I stand firm on the explanation given by my officers that the allegations are completely baseless and very irresponsible,” he had said.
Another lawyer, M.V. Yoges, who is also representing Kalaimughilan, said his client had said that a knife was used when police were recording his statement.
The 28-year-old was allegedly held in a separate, dark cell, away from the other detainees.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi has set November 8 for the next mention on the case to decide whether the magistrates’ court is required to look into the matter.
Three other suspects – S. Thanagaraj, M. Pumugan and S. Chandru – had also been kept in dark cells, the court heard in another proceeding.
Azura had had two of five suspects charged with supporting the defunct LTTE record video statements after they complained of mistreatment, torture and intimidation while in detention.
The complaints of grocery shop owner B. Subramaniam, 57, and Kalaimughilan were recorded after Subramaniam’s lawyer, S. Selvam, applied for the court to hear the torture claims.
Meanwhile, in another court, judge Azman Ahmad had asked the defence to raise the matter in the next mention set for December 23.
“It is now the duty of the court to evaluate the complaints given and not for the other parties to play the blame game. So, let the court decide independently without any remarks by any party,” Rajasekaran said.
He also questioned if the cops would be willing to show human rights group Suaram, which has a long history of checking on cases of deaths in police custody, the detainees’ living conditions.
“Why continue to take statements after they have been charged? Why ask the family members to give statements after the accused have been charged in court?” asked Rajasekaran.
Twelve men, including two DAP assemblymen, were, after being detained under the controversial Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012, charged on October 29 and 31 with multiple offences related to the LTTE, which once waged a bloody civil war to carve out a homeland for Tamils in the largely Buddhist Sinhalese Sri Lanka.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/
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