Saifuddin denies Sosma detainee was assaulted

Summary

• Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail denies allegations that a detainee under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in the Sungai Buloh Prisons Complex had been assaulted.

• He says this is based on the report given by the Prisons Department.

• Based on the report, Saifuddin claims the detainee was weakened due to the hunger strike, not assault.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail dismissed allegations that a detainee under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in the Sungai Buloh Prisons Complex had been assaulted.

He said this after the detainee’s wife lodged a police report on the matter yesterday.

“This story came out yesterday and I received many questions. As a first step, I immediately contacted the Prisons Department commissioner-general to check on the matter and report back to me.

“I have received a full report indicating the assault never happened,” he told reporters after attending the National Registration Department Innovation Award ceremony in Putrajaya earlier today.

However, Saifuddin said the police would continue to investigate the allegations made.

“The wife said it (the assault) happened, and she has lodged a report. We have nothing to hide.

“If a report had been lodged, the police are duty-bound to launch an investigation,” he added.

‘Incapacitated’

Yesterday, the wife of one of the detainees lodged a police report alleging assault on her spouse in the prison complex.

The complainant claimed in her report lodged at the Sungai Buloh police station at 9.15pm yesterday that her husband had been taken to the Sungai Buloh Hospital Emergency Department in an incapacitated state, believed due to assault.

“When I arrived at 5.15pm, I had requested to meet my husband but was rejected.

“I fear for my husband’s safety and am lodging this report based on the advice from my husband’s counsel, who was also present at the hospital,” the report read.

On Feb 8, the family members of 32 men held under Sosma launched a hunger strike in front of the Sungai Buloh Prisons Complex.

READ MORE: Your KiniGuide to Sosma

They are demanding the government and prison authorities to allow them to visit and check on the detainees, who were said to have also started a hunger strike inside the prison.

On that note, Saifuddin said that based on the report he received, the detainee was physically weakened due to the hunger strike, not due to assault.

“From the feedback received, when he did not eat or drink for days, he became weak. That’s why he was brought in using a wheelchair to the hospital,” he claimed.

Case closed on Sosma demo

On a related matter, Saifuddin also informed that the authorities have closed the investigation involving those who demonstrated outside of the Sungai Buloh Prisons Complex, with no further action.

“I gave a full report to the prime minister earlier on the investigation papers and informed him of the decision,” he added.

On Feb 9, Sungai Buloh district police chief Hafiz Muhammad Nor said his team launched an investigation by the families of the Sosma detainees under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

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