Rights group claims police intimidation over custodial death exhibition

Summary

• Human rights NGO Suaram claims police intimidation over its custodial death exhibition held in Penang.

• Suaram official Sevan Doraisamy says police personnel visited the venue multiple times before it opened, monitored the event with patrol cars and officers, and attempted to enter.

• He urges govt to stop all such measures as they undermine its promises to respect rights and reforms.

Human rights group Suaram claims that there had been multiple instances of intimidation from the men in blue surrounding its three-day exhibition in Penang on deaths and torture in police custody.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said in a statement that these include multiple visits by police at the event venue and monitoring by patrols.

As such, Sevan urged the government to stop all police surveillance and intimidation against civil society organisations and members of the public when raising issues of human rights and reforms.

“If left unaddressed, the prime minister’s commitments to addressing deaths in police custody - including public statements on Suhakam Day and the establishment of the special task force on deaths in custody - risk being undermined, eroding public trust in the Madani government’s commitment to institutional reform,” he said.

Sevan said different groups of police officers made multiple visits to the exhibition venue the night before it opened its doors.

More than 10 police officers from the Timur Laut District Police Headquarters including the police station chief were involved, he claimed.

The police officers photographed exhibition props, questioned Suaram staff, and tried to take the identification cards of all staff members, he further alleged.

After the exhibition began this morning, Sevan said patrol cars were seen outside while police personnel repeatedly attempted to enter the venue.

‘Actions contrary to promises’

These actions undermine the right to freedom of expression on the matter of deaths and torture in police custody, he said.

It also undermines the police’s commitment to addressing such matters, Sevan added.

“Such police intimidation is unwarranted, particularly when the exhibition content is grounded in publicly available investigation findings by the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) into the death of S Balamurugan in police custody.

“Notably, similar exhibitions held in Selangor and Johor this year faced no such intimidation.

“These past exhibitions even fostered constructive engagement with former and current commissioners from the EAIC and Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC), who visited the exhibitions and participated as panellists in forums on police accountability held alongside the events,” he said.

In May, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the police and government to pay RM338,000 in damages to Balamurugan’s family over his custodial death in 2017.

‘Serious breaches of conduct’

On Jan 18, 2018, the EAIC found that the police had committed several serious breaches of conduct and abuses of power concerning the death of Balamurugan the year before.

Balamurugan was arrested and allegedly beaten at the Bandar Baru Klang police station on Feb 6, 2017, before he was taken to the Shah Alam centralised lock-up facility for a few hours and then sent for a remand hearing at the Klang Magistrate’s Court in the morning.

The magistrate ordered that Balamurugan be released, but instead, he was allegedly held at the North Klang police district headquarters and was found dead in the early hours of Feb 8, 2017.

In September this year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Suhakam to take up the issue of deaths in police lockups.

In July, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat that all the deaths recorded in prisons, police lockups, and Immigration Department depots since 2022 were related to health problems.

However, Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture questioned the veracity of Saifuddin’s claims.

Its spokesperson Charles Hector urged Putrajaya to ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture - a move Saifuddin had also dismissed in Parliament.

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