Prosecute all enforcement officers that break the law
LETTER | Madpet
(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is concerned that the
attorney-general found that there is insufficient evidence "…to warrant a
culpable homicide investigation into Teoh Beng Hock's death …" What
needs to be done is to continue the investigations.
The Teoh Beng
Hock case also raises many other possible offences that could be
prosecuted including the giving false statements, possibly also
suppression or doctoring of evidence and other breaches of the law. Any
enforcement officer who breaks the law should be investigated and
prosecuted in an open court.
On July 16, 2009, Teoh was found dead
on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, after going to the MACC
office on the 14th floor of the same building where he was
interrogated. Teoh was brought into MACC Selangor’s office for
questioning at 6 pm on July 15, 2009, where he remained for 19 hours
until his body was found at 1.30 pm the next day.
Thai forensic
pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand testified that she was 80 percent
sure Teoh had been strangled before falling off the building. This was
based on bruises on his neck.
The royal commission of inquiry also
concluded that five MACC officers had given false testimonies about
their actions before Teoh was found dead. They were then-MACC Selangor
deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and officers Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus,
Bulkini Paharuddin, "Anuar" and "Raymond".
Both the commission's
report and Court of Appeal judgments clearly stated that the MACC
officers had committed wrongdoings when questioning Teoh, yet none have
faced prosecution.
There are also many other deaths in custody
cases like the case of Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur where it was
found that police officers or enforcement officers had broken the law.
In
the Syed Mohd Azlan’s case, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission
(EAIC) was reported as saying, “There was an element of crime in the
attacks involving common intent or abetment by PDRM officers, including
the arresting team, to intentionally use physical violence on the
deceased to cause death or injury,”
It said that the action was a
criminal offence, specifically under Section 302 and 325 of the Penal
Code read with Section 34 of the same Act. The EAIC’s investigations
also found attempts to obscure evidence by police officers.
Sadly, we have not heard that all these officers were charged and tried in court.
Now,
we have a new government and a new attorney-general and Madpet prays
that all these officers who committed crimes, including doctoring,
fabricating and hiding evidence should be investigated and prosecuted.
Those who make false statements should also be prosecuted.
The
perception of the administration of justice in Malaysia suffers when
police, MACC or other enforcement officers seem to be able to escape
prosecution and trial. Internal disciplinary measures, including
termination, alone are totally inadequate.
Public officers with
the responsibility of enforcing the law must never break the law, and if
they do, they must be immediately prosecuted and tried in court and if
found guilty, their sentence best be a deterrent sentence.
Such
open trials may result in ensuring that other enforcement officers will
in the future obey the law for fear of being prosecuted if the break it
in any way, be it for corruption, torture or any other crime.
Therefore, Madpet,
- Calls
on the attorney-general to immediately investigate, charge and try in
an open court all enforcement officers that have broken any law
whatsoever, not just those that caused the death of Teoh Beng Hock, Syed
Mohd Azlan and others who have died in custody and other victims;
- Calls
on the attorney-general to look at all Suhakam, EAIC and the royal
commissions of inquiry reports and immediately take action against the
police, MACC or other enforcement officers that have been found to have
committed crimes;
- Calls on the Malaysian government to
adopt a strict policy of prosecuting any breach of law committed by
public servants and not simply resort to internal disciplinary measures
including termination;
- Calls on the media to actively
report and highlight all cases involving wrongdoings of public servants,
especially enforcement officers, as this will help reduce corruption
and criminal activities in the police, MACC, Immigration Department and
the civil service generally;
- Calls on the Malaysian
government to enact laws that make it a crime for public servants who
know of criminal wrongdoings of their fellow public servants and fail to
come forward or cover-up evidence of these wrongdoings; and
- Calls on the Malaysian government to restore public confidence in the police, MACC, enforcement officers, civil servants and especially in the administration of justice in Malaysia.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini. - Malaysiakini, 20/7/2019
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