The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has declined to provide reasons behind the "No Further Action” (NFA) classification on a police report over an alleged monkey torture porn, revealed an animal rights lawyer.
Rajesh Nagarajan told Malaysiakini today that his clients, Hak Asasi Hidupan Liar Malaysia (Hidup), will be filing a judicial review in the civil court to challenge the AGC’s decision not to charge the alleged torture perpetrators in the criminal court.
The counsel said the AGC refused to give reasons via a letter dated May 22 to his law firm Raj & Sach.
Earlier via a letter to AGC dated April 6, the lawyer had sought an explanation over the decision to classify as NFA the police report over the individuals who allegedly tortured a baby long-tailed macaque to generate followers and income on social media.
“I have instructions from my clients to file a judicial review against the decision of the AGC not to charge the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
"We believe that more than enough evidence has been provided to the police and yet the police and AGC have failed to, nay, have refused to take further action.
“Baby monkeys have been tortured on a scale hitherto unknown. The videos of the torture make one sick to the stomach and yet the AGC refuses to charge the perpetrators?
“The people have the right to know why the AGC refuses to charge perpetrators and yet the AGC in a letter dated May 22 bluntly states that it is not the 'practice' of the AGC to provide reasons for its actions or in this case, its inaction.
“This is unacceptable. The AGC is a public body that is answerable to the rakyat... My clients are resolute and the AGC's refusal to act against the perpetrators must be justified by the AGC in court,” Rajesh said.
Malaysiakini has reached out to the AGC for a response on the matter.
Back on April 5, Rajesh confirmed the NFA classification of the matter after receiving a letter from the Shah Alam district police headquarters.
He said, according to the letter, the police referred an investigation paper to the deputy public prosecutor on March 30, after which the police were instructed to classify the case as NFA.
He said that the group then vowed to appeal the case to AGC, adding that if the latter fails to give reasons or gives reasons that are unacceptable, then the group would file a judicial review to challenge the AGC’s decision.
Hidup lodged a police report over the matter on Jan 20, urging the police to take action against the individuals involved after receiving a tip-off from an international animal rights group.
Based on the information received, the alleged perpetrators recorded footage of them torturing the animal and sold the recording on a Telegram group called ‘Monkey Haters’.
The animals were allegedly hit with blunt objects or tortured to the extent that they were shrieking in pain.
The long-tailed macaque is listed as a wildlife species protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act.
Torturing wildlife protected under this act is punishable with a fine of not less than RM5,000 and not more than RM50,000, or imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
The Animal Welfare Act 2015, on the other hand, may fine individuals found guilty of animal cruelty between RM20,000 and RM100,000, or jailed up to three years, or both.
Despite their seeming abundance in Malaysia, long-tailed macaques are an endangered species worldwide and their numbers are decreasing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The population is suspected to have undergone a decline of about 40 percent in the last 40 years, and is expected to decline a further 50 percent in the next 40 years, the IUCN said.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Hidup claimed on Feb 15 that the police failed to act on the report they lodged the previous month.
This was denied by the police, who said they were ordered to conduct follow-up questioning to complete the investigation. - Mkini
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