Coroner and Public Prosecutors fail to deter Death In Custody if Inquests avoided(MADPET) - 3 death in custody in 15 days?

 

Media Statement – 6/6/2021

Coroner and Public Prosecutors fail to deter Death In Custody if Inquests avoided

-         Need independent Coroners and Inquest for all Deaths in Custody –

MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is perturbed about the lack of inquests and the lack in transparency of data concerning deaths, especially deaths in custody. Malaysia needs more independent trained Coroners that will look into the about 150,000 deaths that happen yearly in Malaysia who will determine whether criminal liability existed or not in these deaths. Decisions of coroners must be made available.

3 reported deaths in custody within 15 days?

3 persons died in the space of about 15 days, 2 in police custody and one in detention.

Lorry driver Umar Faruq Abdullah died on 3/6/2021 at the south Klang district police headquarters (IPD), allegedly he fell to his death from the second floor of the police station. On 27^th May, Surendran Shanker died at the Kluang hospital after being held at the Simpang Renggam prison in Johor. On 20^th May, one S Sivabalan’s died at the Gombak police station. These are just the media reported cases, and there can be more, and it is best that the Malaysian government discloses full statistics of deaths in government places of custody or detention.

 

All deaths must be reported to the Coroner

In Malaysia, the law stipulates that ALL deaths ought to be inquired into by the Coroner (usually a Magistrate). Further, there is a specific section that imposes inquest requirement for deaths in custody.

Section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Code(CPC) provides specifically for deaths in custody, whereby it states, ‘..When any person dies while in the custody of the police or in a psychiatric hospital or prison, the officer who had the custody of that person or was in charge of that psychiatric hospital or prison, as the case may be, shall immediately give intimation of such death to the nearest Magistrate, and the Magistrate or some other Magistrate shall, in the case of a death in the custody of the police, and in other cases may, if he thinks expedient, hold an inquiry into the cause of death…’.

If the said Magistrate(Coroner) decides that there is no need for an inquest, he must transmit his decision and reasons to the Public Prosecutor, pursuant to section 339 of the CPC, has the power to ‘…at any time direct a Magistrate to hold an inquiry…’

Therefore, it is clear that whether inquest into deaths happens, including these 3 recent deaths in custody, the power lies lies with the Magistrate(Coroner) and the Public Prosecutor, and the blame for not holding  an inquest, especially when the police or public servants may be criminally liable falls on the Public Prosecutor and Magistrates. Magistrates now are directly under the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, who is chaired by the Chairman of the Public Services Commission, now being Tan Sri Zainal Rahim Seman.

 

Coroners must be independent and in the interim be under the Judiciary

It is time that all members of the judicial service, which will also include Coroners, who usually are Magistrates, to be directly under the Judiciary, and no more under the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, so that there will be greater independence, and less avoidance of an inquest in death in custody cases, death in industrial accidents and other deaths.

Alternatively, it may be time for Malaysia to establish an independent body of Coroners, as is the case in the United Kingdom, which have also the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Magistrates already burdened with their case load may simply have insufficient time to focus on Coroner’s responsibilities.

An inquest is important, especially so when the police or other government officers may be criminally liable. Simply having investigation by the police or the relevant government authorities is just not enough, as it is not uncommon for public servants or fellow employees to act wrongly to ‘protect’ their fellow officer/s that may be implicated. The EAIC in the inquiry into the death in custody of Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur found that there was tampering of evidence by fellow police officers – ‘…terdapat perlakuan gangguan bahan bukti yang material oleh anggota PDRM…’[…there was tampering of material evidence by the members of the Royal Malaysian Police…]

Public Inquests quells possibility of ‘cover-up’

As such, a public inquest by an independent Coroner is needed to dispel suspicion that the police or other enforcement officers may have caused the death.

Section 337 of the CPC states, ‘A Magistrate holding an inquiry shall inquire when, where, how and after what manner the deceased came by his death and also whether any person is criminally concerned in the cause of the death.’ A public inquest that allows the participation of other interested parties, including family members of the deceased ensures that the Coroner will less likely make an erroneous decision.

SUHAKAM and EAIC

Whilst the National Human Rights Commission(SUHAKAM), the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission(EAIC) and similar bodies have the power to investigate and conduct inquiries, the primary role still lies with the Coroner and the Public Prosecutor.

The EAIC, according to information on its website, have to date conducted several inquiries into deaths in custody – Syed Mohd Azlan, S. Balamurugan, Soh Kai Chiok, N Dharmendran and James Ramesh.

Both EAIC and SUHAKAM have in the past made various recommendation for actions that need to be taken, including prosecution of certain officers but sadly the reality seems to be that many a times it falls on deaf ears of authorities and government.

The absence of prosecution of wrong doing of police and enforcement officers not just for the killing, but also acts of concealing and destroying evidence and related matters, even after SUHAKAM and/or EAIC’s recommendation, fails to deter future torture, abuse of power and killing by the police and/or other relevant public servants.

Too many deaths – insufficient Coroners and Inquests

In Malaysia, in 2019, there were about 170,000 deaths but the question is how many inquests were actually done. Remember, that inquest should be for all deaths. Even a person who dies of old age or sickness in a hospital, there could be persons who could be criminally liable maybe by reason of medical negligence or acts of others. A death by road traffic incident or workplace accident, may also have a person criminally liable. Failing to ensure safe work environment makes an employer criminally liable for deaths caused.

In UK, in 2020 only, there were 32,000 inquests whereby about 30,900 was concluded that year. 205,400 deaths were reported to coroners in 2020, including 562 deaths in state detention.

Inquest must be the norm, safe for exceptional situations and as such we need more Coroners, or Magistrates trained as coroners. Coroners decide whether there will be an inquest or not. How many deaths were reported to the Coroner in Malaysia, and how many did the Coroner decide there was no need to have an inquest. How many deaths in custody or deaths by police shootings had an inquest? There is a concern that not all deaths are being reported to Coroners in Malaysia, and the lack of an annual Coroner’s Report makes it difficult to ascertain how many deaths were even reported to Coroners.

Media has the role to report on these inquest and its findings, to educate Malaysians and encourage the public to report suspected wrongdoings of the police and enforcement officers. The belief that reporting wrongs is useless as the authorities simply do not bother and act is something that must be extinguished in Malaysia.

MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) calls for inquest to be carried out for all deaths in custody in Malaysia, and that post-mortem be done for ALL deaths in custody, or deaths resulting from actions(or involvement) of police, enforcement officers and/or public servants;

MADPET calls for Coroners to be independent, and in the interim be placed under the Judiciary;

MADPET calls that Coroners must look into each and every death determining whether an inquest be done or not, and that annual reports must be provided;

MADPET calls for the establishment of an independent Coroner system, where Coroners appointed can focus on the about 150,000 deaths that happen in Malaysia annually, and conduct speedily the needed inquests.

MADPET reiterates the calls for the installation of CCTV with recording capacity at all police stations, enforcement officers and detention facilities, which would have been needed evidence to facilitate the investigation of death in custody cases, and even help dispel suspicion of police or public servant involvement in causing these deaths.

 

Charles Hector

For and on behalf of MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) 

 

DEATHS

The number of deaths increased

The number of deaths in 2019 was 173,746, increased 1.0 per cent to as compared to 172,031 deaths in 2018. The Crude Death Rate (CDR) remained at 5.3 deaths per thousand population in 2019. - Department of Statistics Malaysia

In 2020, 30,936 inquest conclusions were recorded, down 1% on 2019. Inquest conclusions of killed unlawfully, road traffic collision and open conclusions were down 55%, 22% and 20% on 2019 to 61, 774 and 1,207 respectively.- Coroners Statistics - England and Wales

The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), on 30/10/2015, after an inquiry concluded the death was caused by the police. The recommended that the said offiocer/s be charged for murder, amongst others. Has anyone been charged yet?

6. Terdapat perlakuan serangan bersifat jenayah yang melibatkan unsur niat bersama atau pensubahatan (abetment) oleh anggota PDRM yang terdiri daripada anggota pasukan tangkapan bagi melakukan kekerasan fizikal secara sengaja ke atas si matiyang telah mengakibatkan kecederaan dan kematian ke atas si mati, dan perlakuan ini adalah merupakan jeniskesalahan bersifat jenayah di bawah undang-undang, khususnya kesalahan di bawah seksyen 302 dan seksyen 325 Kanun Keseksaan dibaca bersama seksyen 34 Kanun Keseksaan atau secara alternatif seksyen 107 Kanun yang sama; 

EAIC also said there was police that tampered with the evidence  - surely the police officers who did ought to have charged for this, even if they were not involved in the killing or murder, and they still can...

3. Terdapat perlakuan gangguan bahan bukti yang material oleh anggota PDRMiaitu, 

(i) membersihkan tempat kejadian sebelum dilawati dan diperiksa oleh pegawai perubatan,

(ii) melupuskan tikar getah dan karpet yang dipercayai mempunyai kesan darah si mati di tempat kejadian tangkapan, dan 

(iii) perlakuanmenyembunyikan/menghilangkan saksi mata (eye witness) yang melihat kejadian tangkapan si mati;  - see

Court rules cops caused death of Syed Mohd Azlan, awards dad RM383,300? Have the police who killed or tampered with evidence been charged yet?

 

Police officers that tortured and killed detainee - what will the AG and the Malaysian government do?

Cepat tindakan kes bunuh lelaki korea, kenapa lambat tuduh polis/pembunuh Syed Mohd Azlan?

 

Lorry driver dies in police custody

Jason Thomas

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June 3, 2021 11:36 PM

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The suspect was brought in yesterday after allegedly stealing a gas cylinder and was remanded for four days to assist in the investigation, police said.

PETALING JAYA: Lorry driver Umar Faruq Abdullah died today at the south Klang district police headquarters (IPD), the third case of custodial death reported in the space of 15 days.

According to police, the 36-year-old jumped to his death from the second floor of the IPD where he was being questioned, with an initial report stating that he passed away due to “severe facial injuries”.

He was brought in yesterday after allegedly stealing a gas cylinder and was remanded for four days to assist in the investigation.

His death comes in the wake of security guard S Sivabalan’s death at the Gombak police station on May 20. A week later, on May 27, Surendran Shanker died at the Kluang hospital after being held at the Simpang Renggam prison in Johor.

According to the police’s initial report, Umar, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back, was being taken down from the third floor to the first floor of the IPD’s criminal investigation department after his statement was recorded.

A scuffle with a policeman ensued on the second floor, with Umar then jumping through the window at the staircase. The report also stated Umar had previous police records.

Lawyer M Manoharan, who is representing Umar’s family, said that “something must have happened” for the police to state that Umar wanted to escape.

“I urge the public prosecutor to charge the policemen involved for manslaughter under Section 304 of the Penal Code or criminal negligence under Section 328 of the Penal Code at the very least,” he told FMT.

Manoharan said Umar, a father of three, was arrested while at home with his wife in Kuala Selangor yesterday.

His wife, Humairah Abdullah, came to the IPD this morning after being told to bring him some food but she was unable to meet him.

Manoharan said that Humairah was still waiting there in the afternoon when she saw an ambulance arrive to take a patient, who she later found out was her husband.

Umar’s post-mortem is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

A police officer at the IPD told FMT that Selangor police chief Abdul Jalil Hassan will provide more details about Umar’s death at a press conference tomorrow. - FMT, 3/6/2021