I refer to the Malaysiakini report High Court: MACC's night interrogation illegal .

WHO defines ‘health’ as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This means that even if a person is free from some physical diseases, he can still be unhealthy if his or her mental state is not at ease and in a state of well-being.

An overworked person who has mental exhaustion, therefore, cannot be qualified as healthy. Similarly, a person who is under mental duress, like the case of a person under detention (or just as a witness to a case) who is subjected to prolonged hours of interrogation without rest, should be considered unhealthy.

It is against basic human rights to question a person who is unhealthy. In the field of occupational safety, an overworked person is often the cause of accidents because an overworked mind often cannot think properly and this can result in important judgment errors leading to accidents.

Similarly, a person deprived of sleep and proper rest cannot be depended on to think rationally and often makes judgment errors. Sleep deprivation, as in the case of around-the-clock interrogation, is a form of mental torture that can cause a disruption of mental well-being leading to confusion and disorientation.

Taking a statement from a confused and mentally tired person is not only unfair but also a grave miscarriage of justice if a person is coerced into saying something untrue under such a state of duress.

Hence, a person under interrogation must be given enough rest to ensure that he or she has a clear understanding of the questions and that he or she would be able to think clearly to answer the questions.

Which is why in most developed countries, there are certain procedures for interrogation and prolonged questioning that may case mental duress is not allowed. There are strict guidelines since this is considered a matter of basic human rights.

Considering all these, I think the recent High Court judgment that questioning of witnesses by MACC should be confined to office hours should be lauded and all enforcement agencies should adhere to the spirit of this judgment.

To solve a case, there is no substitute to painstaking and thorough investigations including using modern technology - not by taking the easy way out and try to force a suspect or witness to say something that under normal circumstances he or she would not do.