A team from Bukit Aman has raided the Freedom Film Network (FFN) office in Petaling Jaya and the house of cartoonist Amin Landak in Wangsa Maju today in connection with an ongoing probe on a local animation that highlighted allegations of police brutality.
Earlier, federal police recorded statements from Amin and Anna Har - co-founder of FFN as the organiser of the annual human rights documentary film festival FreedomFilmFest (FFF) that premiered Chilli Powder & Thinner - at Bukit Aman, for about two hours from 2.30pm.
FFN in a brief statement said the duo left Bukit Aman at around 4.10pm.
It is understood Amin was at home when several police officers arrived, while an FFN staff member said a team had waited outside their office as Har was still on the way back from Bukit Aman with lawyer Rajsurian Pillai.
Police had earlier seized handphones belonging to Har and Amin. The raiding teams also took a laptop from Amin's house, as well as several CPUs, storage drives and a router from FFN's office.
Har and Amin were being investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act and Sections 500 and 505B of the Penal Code.
Rights group Article19 said retaliatory investigations of human rights defenders and journalists raising concerns about police brutality highlight the need to protect freedom of expression and ensure accountability for police misconduct in Malaysia
“Exposing police misconduct is a public service and a service to the police force itself.
"The media, filmmakers, and independent watchdogs all have a role to play in exposing and addressing the torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Malaysia,” said Article 19’s head of Asia programme Matthew Bugher.
"The silencing of artists and activists contributes to the atmosphere of impunity that fuels police misconduct," he added.
FFF released Chilli Powder & Thinner on June 12, which is a short animation produced by rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) based on the real-life experience of a 16-year-old teenager who was arrested and beaten by the police along with two others.
In the animation, they were shown being tied up and beaten with objects such as wooden sticks and rubber pipes, before their bodies were smeared with chilli powder and thinner.
The animation was also released following at least four widely reported deaths in police custody from mid-April to June this year. - Mkini
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