Lawyer rubbishes police’s ‘considerate’ overnight questioning of contract doctors
A lawyer acting on behalf of the Hartal Doktor Kontrak (Contract Doctors' Strike) movement has rubbished the police’s explanation that they are being considerate by questioning healthcare workers at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps) in the wee hours of the morning.
The lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi said healthcare workers at the Covid-19 quarantine facility were never given a choice on when they would like the police to record their statements.
“Instead, they were ordered to...
A lawyer acting on behalf of the Hartal Doktor Kontrak (Contract Doctors' Strike) movement has rubbished the police’s explanation that they are being considerate by questioning healthcare workers at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps) in the wee hours of the morning.
The lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi said healthcare workers at the Covid-19 quarantine facility were never given a choice on when they would like the police to record their statements.
“Instead, they were ordered to give statements as soon as the police arrived early in the morning.
“If it is true the police are considerate towards the doctors, they should be allowed to choose a suitable time for their statement to be recorded,” he said in a statement today.
Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that 17 Health Ministry personnel including doctors and nurses at Maeps have been questioned by the police from 11.30pm last night until 3.45am this morning.
The police said the questioning was not regarding the nationwide strike on Monday, in which Maeps staff did not participate due to threats of arrest.
Instead, the investigation was regarding six media workers who allegedly trespassed a protected area there, when the strike was supposed to take place.
Selangor police chief Arjunaidi Mohamed also claimed the questioning was done late at night to accommodate those on the night shift.
“The doctors came into work from 8pm to 8am. So if we recorded their statements today after 8am, that would have been after their shift and they would have been tired.
“We were being considerate. We questioned them one at a time during their shift with permission from the Maeps management team,” he said.
However, Asheeq countered that the police’s conduct is inexcusable and against the law.
“Statements recorded late at night or early in the morning are against the law and such actions are indefensible, moreover when doctors are working at a Covid-19 quarantine centre.
“The Health Ministry and police should be aware of the pressures and workload faced by the doctors. That is why I wish to state sternly that this recording of statements is against the law and amounts to intimidation against the doctors,” he said.
