Lock-up camera recorded detainee hanging himself, claims cops

Police claim that CCTV had recorded a detainee committing suicide by hanging himself in a Seberang Prai lock up in Penang, last week. 

District police chief Noorzainy Mohd Nor said police have reviewed the CCTV recordings at the lock-up following the Friday morning incident to ascertain what happened in the 29-year-old man's death.

Noorzainy assured that there will be transparency in their probe into the case and would not be covering anyone including their own.

"Yes there are CCTV cameras at the lock-up... It clearly shows that he (the detainee) hanged himself.

"We have also recorded statements from other detainees who shared the same cell, detainees who were in neighbouring cells, personnel on duty, his parents and his brother," Noorzainy told Malaysiakini.

He was commenting on the case of Mohd Fadzrin Zaidi, a suspect in a drug case who was found dead in his cell at the Seberang Prai Utara district police lock-up early morning Friday.

The victim's brother Mohd Fadzli told the media on Saturday that their family was not satisfied with the incident and wanted Fadzrin's death to be investigated.

Initial investigations revealed that the 2am incident occurred when Fadzrin's cellmates were asleep. 

Noorzainy said police have also opened an internal investigation to establish if there was any breach of standard procedures by personnel on duty that morning.

"We have opened two investigations into this incident. One is under sudden-death report, and another is an internal probe to establish if there were any breach of standard operating procedure, or negligence on part of our personnel and such..

"We will not cover up anyone. If there was any negligence in the part of my personnel, I will definitely take action.

"I also hope that the public would not speculate on this issue. Let police carry out the investigation," he said.

Meanwhile, Penang police chief T Narenasagaran said the police will allow Fadzrin's family members to view the CCTV recording if they want to.

He said the recording clearly showed that the detainee hung himself using his lock-up uniform, before his body was found by a cellmate who woke up at 5am.

"If the family wants to view the CCTV recording and to satisfy themselves, we can arrange for them to view the footage. Because like I said, we do not have anything to hide," Narenasagaran said.

Earlier, Fadzrin's father Zaidi Mohd Din when contacted by Malaysiakini said that they wanted justice for the victim's death.

He had lodged a police report on Saturday on the family's dissatisfaction over the incident, as the victim was under police care when he died.

Zaidi claimed that his son did not show any signs of being suicidal when they met him at the Butterworth courthouse on Thursday.

"How could he die in a police lock-up? He was in their (police) care.

"We are going to fight (for justice), this is their negligence," Zaidi said. - Mkini