Human rights group Suaram has cried foul over another death in custody, this time involving a 27 year old who was allegedly beaten at the Pengkalan Chepa prison.

The youth Azri Mohamed was reportedly brought into Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital’s intensive care unit in critical condition on Aug 15, and passed away at 7.45am this morning.

Suaram claimed that there has been no investigation, and the hospital even tried to obstruct the autopsy process.

“Suaram has regrettably been informed by the victim’s family that although he was beaten to a critical condition, there is still no investigation by the authorities.

“Suaram also been informed that Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital had tried to complicate the process of getting an autopsy on the victim.

“This is abhorrent, given that hospitals are a government body that is obliged to investigate the cause of death, especially those who had been injured while in custody,” Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy was quoted as saying.

He said the use of force against detainees was not only against the Malaysian laws, but also against international laws and the Inspector-General of Police’s Standing Orders.

He urged for investigations on Azri’s death to be conducted transparently and seriously, in order to do justice for Azri.

He said deaths in custody were far crueller than a death sentence.

On Aug 18, the Malay-language daily Sinar Harian quoted Azri’s sister Norsyazmira complaining that her elder brother had fallen into a coma.

The report said Azri was sent to prison on July 14. When Norsyazmira visited on Aug 10, he was visibly thinner, appeared weak, and could not walk. She said he confided that he had been beaten, but did not mention by whom.

Azri was reportedly rushed to hospital after he complained of chest and abdominal pains.

Sinar Harian quoted Norsyazmira saying that his doctor informed her that he was unconscious and needed to undergo immediate surgery to remove his ruptured intestines, which was suspected to have been a result of beatings.

Azri was reportedly comatose at the time of the report.

The daily also quoted Kota Bharu police chief Baharom Abu confirming having received a police report from Norsyazmira on the matter, and the case is being investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.

Pengkalan Chepa prison director also reportedly told Sinar Harian that it has received the report and pledged to investigate, and disciplinary action would be taken if prison personnel were found to have been involved.

The report said Azri had been charged under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for drug possession, and his trial was still pending.