Suaram demands murder probe as cops, home minister mum on Cheras custodial death

Suaram has urged police to immediately investigate Noorizwan Zulkefly’s death in custody under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, citing the serious injuries reportedly found on his body.

In a statement today, the rights group also questioned the continued silence from the police and home minister two days after Noorizwan’s family publicly raised concerns over his death while detained at the Cheras district police headquarters.

“Despite this case being exposed two days ago with two reports lodged at the Cheras district police headquarters, the police and the home minister have yet to provide any statement or explanation,” Suaram executive director Azura Nasron said.

Azura (above) said the lack of an immediate, transparent explanation had compounded the family’s distress and raised questions about whether detention procedures and Noorizwan’s rights were respected.

Noorizwan, 42, was arrested on Sept 20 and held in police custody for about 10 days before being pronounced dead at Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital (HUKM) on Oct 1.

His family said they were not informed that he had been arrested and only learned of his detention after his death.

Instead, Noorizwan’s brother, Noranis Zulkefly previously revealed a purported police officer had texted him at about 8pm on Oct 1.

It was only through the message that the family learned Noorizwan (above, in the picture) was taken to HUKM on Sept 30 after a suspected fall, and that he had been detained by the police since Sept 20.

“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,” Nooranis had said.

‘Extensive injuries’

Lawyers for Liberty co-founder N Surendran, who is representing the family, previously claimed the post-mortem showed that Noorizwan died from blunt force trauma and that fresh bleeding was found beneath his skin.

Photographs furnished by the family showed apparent injuries including swelling on his feet and knees, wounds to his back and wrists, fractured ribs and extensive injuries to his head.

Surendran (above, seated at the centre) had also called for the case to be classified as murder under Section 302 and for Bukit Aman to establish an independent team to investigate the death.

Echoing the demand, Azura said that police should probe the possibility of murder based on the injuries reportedly found on Noorizwan.

She also called on the home minister and police to disclose the reasons for his arrest, his remand records, whether detention procedures were followed and what action has been taken so far.

“All relevant evidence, including CCTV footage, lock-up records and medical records, must be preserved and thoroughly examined,” Azura stressed.

She urged the Custodial Death Crime Investigation Unit (USJKT), rather than the district police headquarters, to handle the investigation to avoid any conflict of interest.

Azura also called upon the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) to intervene and monitor the investigation to ensure transparency and fairness.

USJKT was established by the police in 2021 as a dedicated unit to investigate deaths in police custody and lock-ups.

Separately, the IPCC Act 2020 requires police to refer incidents involving serious injury or death in police custody to the commission.

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