LETTER | I refer to the recent article in the Sun Daily where Kuala Lumpur police chief commissioner Mazlan Lazim confirmed that Umno Bandar Tun Razak division chief Rizalman Mokhtar's urine sample had come back from Hospital Kuala Lumpur as negative for drugs, and that the first urine test that was conducted by the police - which was positive - was done using testing strips that were too sensitive.
In a Malay Mail Online article on April 7, Mazlan goes on to clarify saying, “From our 2007 analysis, when we sent certain people’s urine for testing, out of 65 percent which initially came out positive according to our test, 35 percent was later negative”.
This statement is a cause for great concern. This suggests that if there were 100 samples, 65 were positive when tested using the police testing strips and later out of the said 65 samples, 35 came back negative. That’s a 53.85 percent failure rate!
Suspects who are being investigated under the Drug Dependants (Treatment And Rehabilitation) Act 1983 for being drug addicts/users, are usually subjected to remand proceedings (Section 4(1) and Section 4(1)(b) of the same Act).
In such proceedings, an investigating officer usually informs a magistrate or senior assistant registrar that the police will need to detain the said suspect for more than 24 hours, because they reasonably suspect him or her to be a drug dependant and they need a further 14 days to carry out the necessary tests.
The investigating officer will also inform the magistrate that the said suspect tested positive in the test conducted by the police, using the same testing strips.
Weekly, there are probably hundreds of suspects throughout the country who have been “reasonably suspected” of being drug dependants and spent the next 14 days of their lives in police custody/remand, based on these same testing strips by the police which are used daily to convince magistrates/senior assistant registrars to grant the said 14-day remand order.
It is disconcerting to learn that the Kuala Lumpur police chief commissioner is aware that these test strips used by the police “are too sensitive”.
With all due respect to the said officer, this is akin to conceding that all this time the police have based their alleged “reasonable suspicion” on a testing procedure/test strip that they are well aware is 53.85 percent inaccurate.
Considering the sensitivity admission made by the said police commissioner, I sincerely hope that magistrates or senior assistant registrars who preside over such remand proceedings take heed that these testing strips used by the police should no longer be considered to be sufficient “reasonable suspicion”.
At the very least, the said “reasonable suspicion” should be supported by other factors such as prior convictions or circumstances of arrest, as one’s liberty is at stake.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
