Prominent human rights advocate P Uthayakumar said that he would be employing the services of a Queen's Counsel (QC) should he be charged for criminal defamation.

According to Uthayakumar, the prospect of employing a QC was brought up at a meeting with an officer from a London-based human rights group.

"I met with Ian Byrne of Interights, an organisation which defends human rights defenders.

" Interights agreed to support me by way of legal services and they would send a QC if I am to be charged," Kumar said in an interview yesterday.

QC is a titular honour usually bestowed on senior and experienced lawyers by the British monarch for exceptional merit and contribution to the legal profession.

Uthayakumar is currently seeking asylum in the UK after claiming that his assault on May 10 was perpetrated by the police. He suffered bodily injuries and his car was also damaged.

While in the UK, he also met with several human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the chairperson for the Parliamentary human rights committee chairperson Jeremy Corbyn.

A vocal critic of police abuses, Uthayakumar now faces charges of criminal defamation after a police report was lodged by Brickfields district police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharudin.

Probe assault reports

This was prompted by a police report Uthayakumar lodged claiming the police to be the perpetrators as the latter was instrumental in the case of G Francis Udayapan (photo left) who the police claimed escaped from their custody. Udayapan's body was later found in the Klang River near Puchong.

Uthayakumar also called on the police to investigate his claims pertaining to his assault instead of charging him with criminal defamation.

"Why is it that every time I raise this issue, I am faced with the possibility of criminal defamation? Why don't they investigate my reports instead?

"Instead of investigating the matter, the complainant gets slapped with criminal defamation. Until now, the police have not replied to my requests for progress reports," he said.

On May 21, Zulhasnan said that Uthayakumar was hampering investigations by not providing police with a statement. He added that in order for investigations to take place, the photo-fits and descriptions of the assailants had to be given.

On calls by the Federal CID chief Musa Hassan for him to return and substantiate his case, Uthayakumar reiterated his stand that he would not come home until the government and the police can guarantee his safety.

"I had a gun pointed at me and I don't want to come back and be a number on the statistics," he said.