The public inquiry into allegations of police violence in dispersing a group of demonstrators during what has been dubbed as the 'Bloody Sunday' incident is expected to commence in September.

On Monday, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) announced that it will hold a public inquiry into the May 28 incident but the details were sketchy then.

Contacted today, Suhakam commissioner KC Vohrah confirmed that he has been appointed to head the four-member inquiry panel during a meeting held Wednesday.

The panel has formulated its terms and references but Vohrah, a former judge, said he could not elaborate on them until a press statement is released.

"The inquiry will go on. We have to do ground investigation work first and we expect that to take some time," he said.

Record statements

According to him, Suhakam will first have to record statements from the police officers involved and eyewitnesses in order to ascertain who will be listed as witnesses to testify during the inquiry.

"It will take a long time but hopefully by the end of September we can start the inquiry," he added.

The other commissioners on the panel are Choo Siew Kioh, Michael Yeoh and Zaitoon Othman.

The inquiry will be the fifth held by the government-appointed human rights watchdog since its formation in 1999.

The terms and references of the inquiry is said to be similar to those of the ground-breaking Kesas Highway public inquiry in 2000.

The Kesas inquiry - which kicked off on Nov 29, 2000 and lasted 20 days - involved 46 witnesses including both demonstrators and police officers.

However, the September inquiry would be aborted if the police initiated its prosecution process into the incident.

Under the Suhakam Act, the commission is barred from inquiring into any complaints of alleged human rights infringement should this become a court matter.

Protestors injured

In the 'Bloody Sunday' incident, the police came down hard when dispersing some 500 people who were protesting against the hike in fuel and electricity prices.

Among the 20 protestors who were arrested, two were seriously injured - one requiring five stitches on his head, while another sustained a broken arm.

However, the police had defended its action as it had not used excessive force but merely minimal force.

Another similar protest is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

Previous public inquiries held by Suhakam include the the Kesas Highway incident (2001); conditions faced by Internal Security Act detainees (2002); alleged mistreatment of native villagers in Sabah by the police (2004); and the death of S Hendry while in police custody (2006).