Human rights NGO Eliminating Deaths And Abuse In Custody Together (Edict) has welcomed the decision of coroner Mahyon Talib in the inquest into the death of detainee Benedict Thanillas who was found dead in the Jinjang centralised lockup facility in July 2017.
The coroner found that there were negligence and dereliction of duty by the police leading to Benedict's death, said Edict in a statement today.
In reaching the decision, Mahyon also called on the Attorney General's Chambers to take action against the police officers involved.
"Edict would like to commend the coroner's action in giving a clear decision guided by the principles of human rights and the constitution.
"We also commend the case-handling officer from the AGC who supported the family of the decease in its claim that neglect by the police towards the deceased was the cause of this death."
Benedict was arrested by police officers at the Jinjang district police headquarters on June 29, 2017, to facilitate a probe into a drug trafficking case. He was rushed to Kuala Lumpur Hospital with breathing difficulties on July 10 that year and later died.
Benedict needed to take eight types of medicines daily for his diabetes, high blood pressure and a heart condition. He had also undergone heart by-pass surgery.
Last year, Edict director M Visvanathan (above) claimed that there was an attempt by police to cover up the truth in the case.
He said this after a police officer produced two letters, the first said of records on the movement of detainees into and out of the Jinjang centralised lock-up facility for 2017, and that the original book that records medication for detainees had been disposed of.
The second letter informed the coroner's court that CCTV recordings at the facility for dates between June 26, 2017, and July 9, 2017, were no longer being kept by the facility management as they only keep CCTV recordings for two months.
"This was despite them knowing that an inquest will be carried out. And what is more interesting is that CCTV is the best evidence to show the deceased's condition before his death.
"So, it is only proper for the police, if they are investigating any such cases, to have this kind of evidence kept and produced in court," said Visvanathan last year.
The legal counsel for the victim's family in the inquest had also questioned the need for having a police officer from Sentul district police headquarters to investigate Benedict's death as he was arrested by officers from the same district.
Regarding today's decision, Edict expressed its hopes that other coroner's courts could emulate the outcome of this case in similar cases related to the negligence and dereliction of duty by the police.
"We need to work together and work together in ensuring Malaysia has zero deaths in detention," said the group. - Mkini
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