On Jan 28, an elderly couple received shocking news from the police that their son died at the hospital.
They only learned that a day prior, Mohd Afis Ahmad, 31 (above), was detained by the police from the Yan District police headquarters (IPD) in Kedah.
Ahmad Daud told the media that on that day, his phone rang and the number on the screen showed that it was his son Afis calling. But when he answered the call, the voice belonged to someone else.
"A cop, who identified himself as 'Inspector Amri' from IPD Yan, informed that my son died and he asked us to identify the body (at the Alor Setar hospital)," Ahmad said at a media conference organised by human rights NGO Eliminating Death and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict).
He didn't know that the 31-year-old Afis was detained by the police, or why he had been held.
According to the police, Ahmad said, Afis was taken to the hospital after he suffered a cramp (kejang) and appeared like a drug addict.
Later on, the family was informed that Afis was probed after he was suspected of disguising himself as a police officer.
According to Edict director and lawyer M Visvanathan, the cause of Afis' death is blunt force trauma to the head.
"The doctor confirmed that the cause of death is force trauma to the head," he said.
Therefore, Visvanathan wants the police officers and men who handled Afis' detention to be charged.
"This kind of incident shouldn't happen to any detainee. They should be safe in the lock-up.
"If there is a clear element that shows that the deceased was hit and died due to the assault, the attorney-general's office does not need to wait for an inquest but immediately charge those involved in the case," he said.
Visvanathan said he would write to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador on the matter.
He added that should there be doubt surrounding Afis' death, then it would be apt for an inquest to be held.
"The police must be responsible for the death," he said.
Afis' mother Asnah Ahmad expressed her sadness on her son's death and frustration over how the matter was being handled by the police.
Afis was the youngest of three siblings and the only son
"I am upset. Afis was the youngest of three siblings and the only son. Of course, I am very sad. He was my son. I want justice for him," Asnah said.
The family lives in Gurun. In 2014, Afis joined the police volunteer reserve for two years before helping his father in the poultry business.
This was not the first time Afis was arrested. According to the couple, he was also arrested in August last year after he was suspected of robbery.
"We were not informed of the arrest then either. We only learned about it after about six plain-clothed police officers came to the house to search for something.
"They came for half-an-hour and didn't tell us what they were looking for," Asnah said.
Asked if there was closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to facilitate the investigation, Visvanathan said for now he's not sure where Afis was actually detained but he would raise the incident with the AGC and IGP through a letter by this week.
Malaysiakini is attempting to reach Kedah police chief Hasanuddin Hassan for comment. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.