3rd media reported death in police custody in January 2022
If proper procedure followed, 63 year old accused will be alive today, and not died in a police lock-up
13/1/2022 - a 63 year old man, who would probably be alive, died in a police lock-up at the Taiping district police headquarters (IPD), Perak.
2022 2nd Death in Police Custody(16th Jan) - Pengkalan Chepa. Coroner - Tell us how he died?
16/1/2022 - 37-year-old man died at the Pengkalan Chepa police station at 4.35pm.
28/1/2022 - 38-year-old detainee died at the Marang police station lock-up in Terengganu on Friday (Jan 28)
'CCTV and Custodial Medical Unit (CMU) in Lock-Ups
In a Parliamentary Reply on 16/12/2021, [Q.331], the Home Minister said that all police lock-ups will be monitored by CCTV latest by the end 0f 2021, and as such, it is hoped that the CCTV recordings will assist in the inquiry of this mid- January 2022 death in custody case.
MADPET hopes that there will no more cases where the police come up with excuses of non-functioning or non-existent CCTVs, ‘fake’ CCTVs or even excuses that the CCTVs do not record.
To reduce death in police custody, the Minister also said that steps have been including a more stringent Standard Operating Procedure(SOP), whereby there will also be increased monitoring at night and also increased personnel responsible for monitoring lock-ups/[Q.331]. MADPET urges for a disclosure of this SOP, so that the detainees and others can also make sure the compliance of the police.
The Minister also informed about the set-up of Custodial Medical Unit (CMU), which will also do a medical examination of detainees before they are placed in police lock-ups. [Q.331]. MADPET is pleased that this will certainly reduce and/or eliminate deaths in police custody in Malaysia.' - If proper procedure followed, 63 year old accused will be alive today, and not died in a police lock-up
The NEW Death in Custody Investigations Unit that began in 2022 gets its first case
On 7/12/2021, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said that because of the number of complaints about deaths in custody, the decision was made to set up this new Death in Custody Investigations Unit which would be under the Federal Police’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department. This unit would be headed by a police superintendent and would begin investigating all deaths in police custody that occur on Jan 1 onwards. (Star, 7/12/2021).
Apparently, this NEW Unit has sprung to action, and 2 policemen are among the four individuals arrested to assist in the investigation into the death of this detainee. All 4 have remanded at the Taiping Magistrates’ Court for seven days until January 20 to assist in the investigation.
MADPET is open to give an opportunity for this police’s NEW Death in Custody Investigations Unit to show us that police can investigate independently death in POLICE CUTODY cases, even where the perpetrators who may likely be police officers, and the scene of the crime is a police facility.
Even before this new special unit, the police was duty bound to investigate such deaths in the custody, but unfortunately the lack of prosecution of the police suspects have given rise to a public perception that the police cannot really be expected to independently investigate and bring to justice police officers responsible for the death. There is a need for a non-police independent investigation.
In 2018, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) found that police personnel had beaten Syed Mohd Azlan criminal intent sufficient to make it a crime of murder. The EAIC also found that the police had tampered with evidence – even causing a rubber mat and/or carpet possibly stained with blood to vanish.
It is for this reason that many have called for an INDEPENDENT body, not the police, when the police themselves may be the perpetrator, and/or are directly or indirectly involved in the crime.
An independent Coroner’s finding after an open inquest can remove doubt of police criminal responsibility of victim of death in police custody.
MADPET calls for a speedy inquest in this case, and reiterates the call for Inquests for all death in police custody cases; and - If proper procedure followed, 63 year old accused will be alive today, and not died in a police lock-up
Bukit Aman confirms death in custody at Marang lock-up
KUALA LUMPUR: The Bukit Aman Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS) has confirmed receiving a report on the death of a detainee at the Marang police station lock-up in Terengganu on Friday (Jan 28).
Its director Datuk Azri Ahmad said they received the report at 3pm.
He said the investigation would be handled by its Crime Investigation Unit on Death In Custody.
“The 38-year-old detainee was arrested under Section 379 of the Penal Code,” he said in a statement tonight.
Azri said the detainee was remanded for three days from Friday by the Marang Magistrate’s Court in Terengganu. – Bernama - Star. 28/1/2022
Cops confirm death in custody in Terengganu
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PETALING JAYA: Police have reported another death in custody, this time in Marang, Terengganu.
In a statement, Bukit Aman’s integrity and standards compliance
department director, Azri Ahmad, said the police received one report
today at the Marang police station at 3pm.
The investigation into his death is being carried out by the integrity department’s Custodial Death Crime Investigation Unit which started operations on Jan 1.
This is the third death in custody this month, and follows that of a 37-year-old man in Kota Bharu, Kelantan 11 days ago.
On Jan 13, a 63-year-old man died at the Taiping district police headquarters (IPD) while awaiting his case’s second mention in court.
Two police officers and two of the victim’s fellow inmates were then arrested in connection with the incident and remanded until Jan 20. There have been no further updates on the case as yet. = FMT, 28/1/2022
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