KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) will check if the police had complied with standard operating procedure or acted improperly in their Sunday arrest of lawyer Siti Kasim.

EAIC chairman Datuk A. Aziz A. Rahim said the commission views with grave concern upon the allegation of police impropriety and the misuse of power pursuing the recent arrest of lawyer-activist Siti Kasim on June 24, 2018.

EAIC will be looking into the matter to determine whether the police had followed the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in effecting the arrest and hence whether there is any truth in the allegation of police impropriety in carrying out their duty and function.

This is in line with the provision in section 28 of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission 2009 [Act 700] whereby the Commission may commence its own investigation since the matter is of significant interest to the public, he said in a brief three-paragraph statement today.

The EAIC currently supervises 21 government enforcement bodies including the police, with its functions including the study and verifying of any alleged infringement of enforcement procedure and making related recommendations.

The commission can also receive public complaints of misconduct against enforcement bodies and investigate such complaints, information on its website stated.

In Siti's case, she was detained by police at 12.40am on Sunday, after police broke the front door of her home to retrieve her client Anis Nur Izzaty Ruslan.

The police had said they received a police report which accused Siti of abducting Anis from a hospital while under police custody, leading them to search Siti's home for Anis and sending the latter back to the hospital.

The police then arrested Siti under the Penal Code' Section 186 for allegedly obstructing a public servant from discharging public duties.

The police failed on Sunday to obtain a court order to remand Siti for four days to assist in investigations and released her hours after she was detained, but said they will continue to investigate her based on a June 21 police report.

Siti today posted a statement and a video on her Facebook account, alleging that the police had acted in a high-handed manner and saying that they should have sought her clarifications before raiding her house.

Siti also rubbished the idea that she would kidnap Anis, pointing out that she had even given the latter money and a mobile phone to use.

Siti has urged the home minister to look into the actions of the police, saying she does not want the incident that she and her client went through to repeat or happen to others.

Earlier today, DAP MP Lim Kit Siang described Siti's arrest as wrongful and outrageous, arguing that incident has made the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) a priority and urged the Pakatan Harapan government to put it high in its list of institutional reforms when Parliament convenes next month.

Source : Malay Mail Online