After latest custodial death, Bar Council renews calls for external body to investigate

Reacting to the latest death in custody of V Mugilarasu in Sungai Buloh Prison, the Bar Council has renewed calls for an independent external body to investigate such fatalities.

M Ramachelvam (above) who chairs the council’s task force on the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) told Free Malaysia Today the organisation should be specifically mandated to investigate deaths in police lockups, prisons or immigration detention centres.

The Prisons Department claimed that Mugilarasu, 35, who died while awaiting a court hearing, had suffered a heart attack.

"The post-mortem results showed a heart attack," a Prisons Department spokesperson told Malaysiakini.

Mugilarasu's family lawyer A Sheelan had before this claimed that the body of the deceased had signs of injuries.

"There were bruises on the face. But the (pathologist) said they had to operate and because of the dark skin, they had to peel the skin to see if there's any bruising.

"On the surface, you could see the nose was still bloody [...] there was dried blood on the teeth and there was bruising on the left cheek and brow, as well as on the forehead," he added, in calling for a post-mortem to rule out foul play.

Ramachelvam called for a probe into the death given the allegations.

"It is also imperative that an inquest is held to establish the facts surrounding the death,” he said.

He added that the safety and well-being of detainees were the responsibility of the detaining authorities, and all deaths in police lockups, prisons or immigration detention centres must be thoroughly investigated.

Ramachelvam cited that the proposed bill for the setting up of the IPCMC would provide for investigations into such custodial deaths and called for similar provisions to be enacted for other institutions that have the power and facilities for arrest and detention.

On March 18, de facto Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Takiyuddin Hassan (photo) said that the long-awaited bill would be reviewed before the Perikatan Nasional (PN) cabinet makes a final decision on it.

“The cabinet decided that the IPCMC bill is to be reviewed and refined by me and Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin.

“The result of this discussion will next be brought to the security cluster which is led by Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob before it is brought to the cabinet for a decision,” he had said.

Prisons Dept claims Mugilarasu died from a heart attack

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