Football, the ‘beautiful game’, can turn ugly at times. An altercation over an ostensibly friendly game of football has led to disturbing allegations of police brutality in the small rural town of Lawas in northeastern Sarawak.

NONE Salutan Buayeh, a village committee member in the Lun Bawang community of Long Pengalih, has reported that his nephew, a schoolboy, had been arrested, beaten and threatened by policemen in Lawas, following a seemingly innocuous argument over football.

Salutan ( right ) told the Sarawak Indigenous News website on Aug 10 that his nephew had been kept in a police cell for two nights, but had not been investigated nor charged with any crime.

“We villagers are not satisfied because the schoolboy did not commit any wrongdoing,” he remonstrated.

“The people who started this football argument were from the police - a policeman named Jamil, and his friends…we made a police report against them to a police officer named Tuan Redhuan (in Lawas), but subsequently, no action has been taken against the policemen who caused this incident.

“Instead my nephew was remanded for two nights and three days, though he had done nothing wrong…he was even beaten at the police station, in front of Tuan Redhuan!” he exclaimed.

“Another offence by the police against us was that the police forced entry into the boy’s home, causing many possessions to be broken - as if we were hardened criminals - whereas this was only a disagreement over football. One even threatened to shoot my nephew,” he alleged.

“We villagers are unhappy. Do the laws only apply to the public, while the police officers have no legal action taken against them, because they are policemen?” he asked.

The villagers now have little faith in seeking redress through the police report lodged in Lawas, and have faxed a complaint to the national police headquarters in Bukit Aman, Suhakam and the public complaints bureau, asking the authorities to take action.

‘The police must be neutral’

Baru Bian, a land rights lawyer and leader of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Sarawak, has offered pro bono legal advice to the schoolboy and his family.

“I’ve been instructed to take action,” he said. “I’ve examined the reports lodged at the police station in Lawas…and I find, in my opinion, there is a legal basis to take civil action.

“I’ve found out that this is not unusual,” he observed. “Apparently, this is a common thing that happens in a small town like Lawas, not only involving small matters like this. I deal with native customary rights (NCR) issues, logging companies that come in and trespass on land.

NONE "In fact, in most of the cases, the police are found to be not impartial. The police appear to be in favour of those who are powerful, in favour of those who are rich,” Baru ( left ) said.

“And in this case, I think it is very obvious, looking at the report, the police are not neutral. The police must be neutral,” he emphasised. “This is very rampant throughout the state of Sarawak, (I have learnt) as I have moved around. It’s very unfortunate.

“I hope…the high-ranking officers, in particular the inspector-general of police, should look into this case.”        

Lawas police: Situation is normal

Lawas police have refuted observations in Malaysiakini on Aug 18 that syabu and methamphetamines constitute a serious problem in the district, according to a report in a local English daily, the Borneo Post , yesterday.

Lawas police chief Deputy Supt Anthony Abell said Lawas is “not a cowboy town but a booming district and a safe destination for tourists and visitors”. He described the situation there as “normal and under control”, adding it was not right to “tarnish the image of the district and the people there”.            

“It is a damaging report,” the police chief was quoted as saying of the Malaysiakini article. “as police here conduct raids and operations to curb crimes and other related cases including drugs.” He was reported to have said it was wrong for this news portal to say the police were not taking action against crime, because the police had statistics of arrests of individuals involved in crime and drugs.

limbang lawas sarawak town 270609 02 Abell described reports of drugs flooding the area as a “made-up story as police personnel conduct numerous operations at pubs, kampungs and strategic locations”.

Abell supported his claim by reeling off statistics: from January to Aug 23 this year, police had seized 300 ecstasy pills, 22.6g of syabu and 0.9g of ketamine.

The police had also conducted 76 operations over this period, of which 14 raids were conducted at “strategic places”, 18 at entertainment outlets and 38 at “specified operations”. Police had also arrested 100 people for involvement in drugs.

It is unclear whether the alleged raid on the schoolboy’s home after the football game had contributed to the police statistics.

The newspaper also quoted narcotics officer Inspector Suhaizam Mat Hassan as saying the police had “conducted many raids on drug activities although they only managed to catch small-time drug addicts”.

The population of Lawas district is approximately 35,000, with a third living in the town proper. The town is a transit point for travellers moving between Sarawak and Sabah or Brunei. Lun Bawang, Kedayan, Tagal, Iban and Malay communities in the district are mostly farmers or fishermen, earning low cash incomes.

Lawas certainly appears to me, a casual visitor, as a safe, welcoming place with friendly residents, and an unhurried charm common to most small towns in Sarawak.

Yet Lawas natives speak of a worrying increase, over the last decade, in drug and alcohol use, with the inevitable accompanying influx of crime and a small number of gangs.

KERUAH USIT is a human rights activist - ‘anak Sarawak, bangsa Malaysia’. This weekly column is an effort to provide a voice for marginalised Malaysians. Keruah Usit can be contacted at keruah_usit@yahoo.com .