KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the home minister must both explain what has been done to stop deaths in custody from recurring, after an enforcement watchdog ruled that a suspect was murdered while under police custody in 2014, the Malaysian Bar said today.

The Bar’s president, Steven Thiru, said they take note of IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s pledge to take action against those responsible for the death of Johor youth Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur, but stressed that this is not the first time the police have made such promises.

“The Malaysian Bar is concerned that the IGP’s announcement may be a mere platitude, as deaths in custody have continued unabated, despite the news in May 2013 that the IGP would head a special committee established to take measures to prevent deaths in police lockups,” Steven said in a statement.

Steven noted that it was in 2013, after the death in custody of N. Dhamendran, that Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi proposed that CCTVs be installed in all holding cells in police lockups and that detainees be held in centralised holding centres that have sufficient monitoring and CCTV coverage instead of lockups.

The Bar added that Ahmad Zahid had announced a review of the standard operating procedures for police interrogations, and later in May 2014 declared that CCTVs would be installed in all police lockups.

“The Malaysian Bar calls upon the IGP and the Minister to now provide a comprehensive account of the steps that have been taken in the intervening 17 months, and to account for the failure of the measures intended to eradicate the occurrence of deaths in custody,” Steven said.

“Death in custody, especially by foul means or under dubious conditions, is among the most heinous crimes imaginable in a civilised society under the rule of law.

The present state of affairs has led to much public outrage and an erosion of confidence in the police,” he said, adding that the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission’s (EAIC) findings on Syed Mohd Azlan’s case only reinforces the Bar’s repeated push for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

On October 30, the EAIC in a statement said that the use of physical violence by police during arrest and questioning was the cause of Syed Mohd Azlan’s death in custody in 2014.

According to the enforcement watchdog, its investigations also found attempts to obscure evidence from the 25-year-old’s interrogation that resulted in 61 separate injuries on various parts of his body.

The police officers involved also engaged in a “serious breach” of standard operating procedures concerning the handling of detainees, material seizure, and the integrity of statements, the EAIC added.

Khalid has since given his assurance that those involved in Syed Mohd Azlan’s death will be punished if found guilty.

“We assure the public that those involved will be brought to justice as we do not practise the blue wall of silence to shield any member of the police who are liable for criminal charges,” he said in a brief statement on Wednesday.

Resource : Malay Mail Online