NGOs want Suhakam to probe Khairol Azman’s custodial death

Human rights activists have urged the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to investigate the death of Khairol Azman Mohd Shafie while in the custody of prison authorities.

This comes as his next-of-kin suspect foul play in the death of the 52-year-old, who they said was in good health prior to his detention and has no history of illness or hospitalisation.

“Suaram and Gerakan Guaman Rakyat (Gegar) view the issue of death in custody seriously, whether it is caused by abuse of power, negligence, or health (issues).

“We are of the view that the welfare of detainees is the full responsibility of the detaining authorities, in line with domestic and international laws.

“We hope Suhakam… investigates Khairol Azman Mohd Shafie’s death in custody,” the NGOs said in a joint statement today, after meeting Suhakam to hand over a memorandum.

They also asked the commission to host a dialogue between Attorney General Idrus Azizan Harun, de facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, and other stakeholders including civil society representatives and human rights NGOs.

In addition, they urged Suhakam to pressure the government to introduce a Coroners Bill, similar to legislation in Singapore and the UK.

Khairol was charged under Section 506 of the Penal Code (extortion) on Oct 17 last year. He was detained at a prison in Malacca after his family failed to post his RM3,000 bail.

In a separate statement, Khairol’s brother Kamaruzzaman Mohd Shafie said he was first alerted that something has gone wrong with his sibling’s health on April 13 at about 8.50pm, when contacted by a doctor.

At the time, he was merely told to go to the Malacca General Hospital because of his brother.

He would later learn that Khairol had already passed away about 10 minutes before the call. Moreover, a doctor informed him that prison authorities brought his brother to the hospital a week earlier on April 6.

“I also asked why none of my brother’s family members, myself included, were informed that my brother has been hospitalised until now, and the doctor and the prison officers there merely kept quiet,” he said.

He added that the Malacca General Hospital has offered full cooperation in investigating the death, but they too did not know what led his brother to be brought to the hospital.

“I don’t know what happened to my brother. He is unmarried and has nobody except me as his brother. I feel dismayed and traumatised seeing my brother like that,” he said.

According to Suaram and Gegar’s joint statement, an autopsy found that Khairol died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is internal bleeding due to a rupture of a major blood vessel located in the abdomen.

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