Human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar will ask the Kuala Lumpur High Court to order the police to stop harassing him and to start protecting him.

"I plan to initiate court action within the next two to three weeks to seek 24-hour police protection," Uthayakumar said when contacted yesterday.

He said he would also pursue several other demands - compensation from the government and the police for damages suffered to his person and property; inquiry into these incidents by the Special Police Commission and prosecution of those involved; and a permit for a gun licence.

Expressing lack of confidence in the ability of the police to investigate the reports he has lodged, he said a Royal Commission should be set up to undertake an inquiry into his complaints. Failing this, he said the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia should perform the task.

On a related matter, Uthayakumar expressed surprise that he has been asked to give his statement to the Sepang police pertaining to a report he had lodged nearly 18 months ago.

"Why is that they have to wait so long before coming back to me?" Uthayakumar asked.

He had lodged the report on Jan 20, 2003 stating that he had been mistreated while being detained on charges of criminal intimidation. He was then representing the family of S Tharmarajen , 19, who had died in police custody in June 2002.

The family had claimed that Tharmarajen had been beaten while in police custody - he died at the Sepang hospital.

No statement yet

More recently, Uthayakumar had represented the family of G Francis Udayapan , 24, a VCD vendor who was found dead in the Klang River on May 23. He was said to have escaped from the Brickfields police district police headquarters on April 16, but this account is being disputed.

The lawyer claimed that he had been assaulted because of his involvement in this case. He subsequently applied for a gun licence but his application was rejected by Brickfields police.

In turn, the Brickfields police have lodged a report alleging he had defamed them. Uthayakumar applied for asylum in Britain upon arrival at London's Heathrow airport on May 20 .

After receiving an assurance of his safety by Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri, he returned last Sunday .

The police have sought his co-operation to provide further information relating to his allegations, but he has yet to give a statement .