Human rights group Suaram today called on the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to pressure the government into releasing a 16-year-old witness in the S Balamurugan death in custody case from detention under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) 1959.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy, in a memorandum to Suhakam, also called for an inquiry to be conducted on the teenager's detention under Poca since Sept 1, and alleged abuses while in police custody.

“Suaram views the arrests... as being influenced by the unhappiness of Klang Utara police, because he had testified against them.

“Aside from that, if police had sufficient evidence, they should have charged him in court under the existing procedures,” said Sevan, in reference to the teenager's testimony as one of the witnesses in the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC)’s public inquiry into Balamurugan's death.