Adham reminded of 'no action' promise after cops quiz Maeps staff overnight

Following Monday’s nationwide protest at around 20 hospitals as part of the Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) campaign, doctors, nurses and other medical staff at the Covid-19 quarantine centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang  (Maeps) were questioned by police late last night, said lawyer Asheeq Ali who represents the group.

This is an unexpected development as unlike staff in other major hospitals, those planning to strike at Maeps did not participate in the walkout following threats of arrest prior to the planned demonstration, which was to have taken place at 11am on June 26.

Asheeq first tweeted that he had been told police officers were in the process of gathering statements from nurses and doctors at Maeps over the HDK protest.

“This is crazy. The police should stop taking the statements immediately! It's 12.15am,” he tweeted.

He later informed Malaysiakini that police were taking full statements about the whole event and interviewing staff individually. Asheeq then went over to Maeps to accompany the doctors.

This morning, the lawyer told Malaysiakini that 12 doctors were questioned by police from 11.30pm until 3.45am.

Saying that it followed a police report from the Maeps leadership over the presence of unauthorised media at the quarantine centre on Monday, Asheeq called it an act of intimidation against those who had voiced out their concerns.

“The police will proceed to take statements today from doctors who were not on duty last night.

“Considering the promise by Health Minister Dr Adham Baba that no disciplinary action would be taken over the matter, the decision by the Health Ministry official to proceed with a police report is both irresponsible and inhumane,” he added.

Malaysiakini is attempting to contact the police to get more information about the investigation.

Former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad retweeted this morning an HDK post which asked why the doctors were being questioned given that the strike at Maeps was called off.

“After Adham promised that no disciplinary action whatsoever would be taken against them, I hope he will make sure that the prime minister and the cabinet will act in accordance with this promise. 

“The trust deficit of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is already at its lowest ebb, if there’s any left,” he added.

On Monday, doctors at Maeps decided to cancel the proposed walkout when threatened with police arrest. Police also entered the media room to inform the media that only the Selangor Information Department was allowed to “cover” the event and even official media such as RTM and Bernama were not allowed.

A Malaysiakini video journalist, who had begun a livestream, was ordered to cease and media personnel were escorted off the premises.

Maeps officials later claimed the journalists were removed from the area for not following standard operating procedure (SOP) to enter its hall. 

Police had also inquired after the identity of medical staff who liaised with the media but Malaysiakini will be protecting their identities in accordance with its ethical stance.

Aside from Adham’s statement that no disciplinary action would be taken against those who participated in the strike, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani also said there was no indication that the planned strike by contract doctors would threaten public order. 

Despite that, Dang Wangi police chief Mohamad Zainal Abdullah told Malaysiakini cops would probe the strike at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) because no one is allowed to assemble or engage in any gathering at any place for any purpose whether religious, social, sports, marriage or cultural without the permission of the health director-general during the movement control order. 

“This is contained below Regulation 10 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act (National Recovery Plan) Regulations 2021,” he said.

It was also reported that 24 contract doctors from Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang who participated in the strike will be slapped with show-cause letters.

Malay daily Kosmo reported HTAR director Dr Zulkarnain Mohd Rawi as saying that the participants will be asked to explain their actions.

On Monday, hundreds of government contract doctors nationwide, including at HTAR, staged a walkout in a bid to lobby for better job security.

Under the system, contract doctors face joblessness after the end of their five-year training because the government does not have the budgetary means to offer them permanent positions.

As a result, many of the contract doctors have to move to the private sector or continue their specialist training abroad.

Last Friday (July 23), the government offered to extend their contracts for up to four years but stopped short of offering permanent positions.

However, it promised to ensure similar perks with permanent doctors.

HDK, a government contract doctors collective, described it as “half-cooked”, stressing that offering contract extension was not the solution.

The HDK organisers outlined procedures to ensure that the care of hospital patients would not be jeopardised in any way during the strike.

Among others, HDK’s guidelines for participants assigned to critical care departments state that they should only walk out at 11am after “pass-over” or transfer of duties to the permanent doctor on duty.

Most returned to work after the symbolic strike.

Prior to the strike, they faced intimidation and threats from the management of public hospitals, warning of action and repercussions to their careers.

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