I refer to the Malaysiakini report What is wrong with our police force?

Yes, until today we have not heard anything from the government or the police force or from anyone the truth in relation to the death of A Kugan.

Today, it is not only the family of the said victim who is expecting an answer but the whole nation as well.

But I would like to go back to the basic question of who is responsible for giving us the answers that we are waiting for.

I personally believe that besides the police force, it is also the magistrates who presided at his remand hearing who should also be held responsible for the death of Kugan.

Being a junior criminal lawyer myself, I have attended many remand hearing and I stand firm by my comment stating that certain magistrates in the country are just not performing their role properly.

It is the duty of magistrates to decide very carefully whether or not a remand or an extension of remand should be given. It is a norm that this decision is derived after full disclosure of information in relation to the arrest, investigation and history of the suspect’s arrest.

These should be provided by the investigating officer (IO) from the police diary and first investigation report (FIR) and these documents should be shown to the magistrates.

However, these procedures are normally just on paper because it is a practice of the police force not to disclose full information to the magistrates for the remand application and neither do the magistrates request for such information.

It has been a practice of the courts to ask the suspects who are brought before the court for a remand hearing whether or not they have got any complaints against the police.

I do not see the practicality of this question being asked in the presence of the IO as the said suspect will have to return to the police station and kept under the supervision of the same IO.

This simply means that the suspects are not going to say anything against the police force in the remand hearing because of the fear of being ill-treated when they return to the police station.

Unless a lawyer is present at the remand hearing, it is unlikely that the magistrate presiding would know of the true story from the time of arrest of a suspect. Even then, normally the question arises as to who is telling the truth, the IO or the lawyer.

In one personal experience, the magistrate in one of the courts questioned me on my personal knowledge of the investigation conducted by the police after which she then said I should not reveal it and let the police continue their duty because they know better!

At that point, I felt like justice is slowly dying as justice is not provided to the suspect. Instead, it is given to the police.

In another incident, the magistrate told me that I as a lawyer should not question the integrity of police investigation in a remand hearing even though my clients were illegally detained for 48 days.

The magistrate further asked me in what capacity was I there for in a remand hearing. For me, this is not only a personal insult as a lawyer but a disgrace to human rights. Stipulated laws are not being followed or failed to be understood by the magistrates themselves.

Some of the magistrates and police in our country fail to understand that a person is not guilty until it is proven so and the suspects have the right to be heard before they are proven guilty.

A magistrate has such an important responsibility as failure to decide promptly on a remand hearing could lead to a person’s death in custody.

Therefore, I believe that the magistrate who granted the remand order for Kugan should also be questioned so that we could find out whether the magistrate had sufficient grounds to allow the remand.

And whether or not the magistrate took into account of any complaint from Kugan if there was any and why was the remand allowed if this was so.

I would also kindly urge the IGP to investigate this matter thoroughly and not come up with lame excuses saying that the injuries sustained by Kugan was caused by the mob entry of the family members to see the body.

And in relation to the first post-mortem report which said that Kugan died from water in the lungs. The findings are fine with me but the police should please enlighten Malaysian citizens in relation to the injuries sustained by Kugan.

How did he get the injuries? If he died from water in the lungs, would there be injuries on his body? Were the injuries on Kugan’s body a result from water in the lungs?

I further state that the government and any person responsible for the death of Kugan should think and speak wisely with full evidence even if they think they can hide the truth.

Justice will prevail in relation to the death of Kugan but only if our police force, judiciary and government believe that each and every citizen of this nation is entitled to human rights and justice.

I also would like to remind the government that the country can only be in peace if the human rights of each and every citizen of this nation is protected.

It is not only important to look like we have a very good enforcement of human rights in the country but it has to be practised daily without fail by the government.

Finally, I would like to send my condolences to the family of Kugan and sincerely hope that every member of the family can cope with this tragic incident. They should remember that every citizen of Malaysia is with them.