Family knew nothing of 10-day detention, then came news of his death and injuries

Around 8pm on Oct 1, Nooranis Zulkefly, 34, received a text message that left him stunned - his brother had died about 18 hours earlier.

The message, purportedly from a police officer, informed him that his brother had been taken to Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital (HUKM) at about 9.30pm on Sept 30 after a suspected fall.

It was only then that Nooranis learned that his brother, Noorizwan, 42, had been detained at the Cheras district police headquarters following his arrest on Sept 20.

“Why was he caught? Where was he arrested? No details were given,” said Nooranis, struggling to hold back tears during a press conference at the Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) office in Petaling Jaya this afternoon.

“We were not notified of his arrest. My brother was not given the right to inform his family, and the police did not contact us regarding his arrest,” he added.

Noorizwan, a divorcee, had been living with friends, who also did not alert the family that he had been missing from home for 10 days.

Explain in 24 hours

Accompanied by his father and sister, Nooranis (below, left) gave the police 24 hours to provide an explanation - failing which, LFL co-founder N Surendran told Malaysiakini that a protest would be organised to press the authorities for answers.

Surendran also claimed that the post-mortem confirmed Noorizwan died from blunt force trauma, with the pathologist also finding fresh bleeding beneath the skin.

Photographs furnished during the press conference showed visible injuries on Noorizwan’s body, including swelling on his feet and knees, wounds to his back and wrists, fractured ribs and extensive injuries to his head.

“The pathologist told us that apart from the blows, there was no illness that could have caused his death. He was a healthy man,” Surendran alleged.

The lawyer said the family had been given no explanation as to how Noorizwan sustained the injuries and demanded an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

He called for the case to be immediately classified as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

“We want Bukit Aman to establish a team to conduct this investigation transparently, independently and without protecting anyone,” he added.

Concrete answers, please

Surendran (seated below, centre) also demanded that the inspector-general of police, home minister and the entire cabinet be held accountable for the incident.

He said the family was not merely seeking assurances that the case would be investigated, but wanted concrete answers and accountability from the police and government.

“We don't want the usual ‘this case will be investigated’ statement to be repeated. We want the government to vow that a systemic, comprehensive review will be done to police protocol nationwide,” he said.

The family has since lodged two police reports at the Cheras district police headquarters regarding the matter.

Malaysiakini has reached out to the Cheras district police headquarters and Bukit Aman for comments.

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