After two years, an Iranian businessman has finally found the courage to go public in alleging ill-treatment while being detained in a Malaysian police lock-up.

Morteza Abbaskouzeh Topraghi, 32, ( photo ) who came to Malaysia five years ago and is involved in the carpet business in Kuala Lumpur, took his plight to the parliamentary human rights caucus today.

He decided to come forward after observing public outrage over the infamous video-clip of the 'nude ear-squats' incident which has been a hot topic of discussion in recent weeks.

Another Iranian national Hamed Reza Rafsanjani Sadeghi, 33, also related his plight to caucus deputy chief Lim Kit Siang, member Teresa Kok and other MPs.

Both lodged separate police reports at the Ampang station last night, copies of which were made available to reporters.

Fear of repercussions

At a press conference, Morteza said he was asked for a bribe by policemen after being stopped at a roadblock one afternoon about two years ago.

They allegedly asked for money on grounds that he was not carrying his passport and Malaysian driving licence, although he produced his work permit and international driving licence.

When Morteza offered RM50, a policeman allegedly threw the money back and asked for RM500.

Morteza said he could not pay up and that he was taken to the Subang Jaya police station and held in the lock-up.

"A policeman came into the lock-up and insisted that I take off all my clothes, including my underwear. I protested and said I'm a Muslim and that I was fasting at the time... and could not take off all my clothes," he said in his report.

"He forced me to take off my clothes but I refused to take off my underwear... I said he would have to kill me first. He pushed me into one of the cells in the lock-up."

Morteza also claimed that a policeman told him that, if he was willing to pay RM50, he would be released. He refused, but was let out about five hours later.

The businessman said he lodged the police report in the hope that "this kind of corrupt (practice) can be stopped".

Morteza said he did not act sooner because he was afraid of repercussions.

"Even now, I am afraid that my family will be in danger... I am worried that our visas may not be extended and that there will be other problems," he said.

'Money taken'

Hamed ( photo, left ), who is studying in a local university, alleged that a policeman took RM100 from his wallet after being stopped at a roadblock at about 12.30am on Oct 4.

"He asked for my passport, which I had left at home. I showed my student card that was in my wallet. The policeman said it would be bad for me if he sent me to the police station for not carrying my passport.

"He told me to place my wallet on the clutch. I did it. He bent and took RM100 from my wallet... and told me to go away fast, so I left," Hamed said in his report.

Hamed said he lodged the report after meeting with Kok, who recently highlighted the alleged nude 'ear-squats' incident.

He added that he has heard about similar incidents from others in the Iranian community here and that he has urged them to make their complaints public.