Death in custody inquest: Can contempt proceedings be held against Home Minister?
NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisation (NGO) Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET) is curious if the Home Minister, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other law enforcement officers (prosecutors) are in contempt of court for their failure to ensure inquests into death in police custody cases.
This is given that Practice Direction No. 2 of 2019 by then Chief Justice Richard Malanjum that came into force on March 8, 2019 stated among others that all deaths in custody inquest must be completed within six months.
Moreover, the Special Coroners Court has been established since April 15, 2014 to enable registration of deaths in court as well as to undertake duties and procedures for inquest.
“Has the minister, the police and the prosecutors complied with this directions?” asked MADPET co-founder Charles Hector in a media statement.
“In January 2022, four persons have already died in police custody, and MADPET is most concerned as to whether the coroner is doing its job, including the conducting of speedy inquests (inquiries) as required by existing laws,”
The four reported deaths in police custody are, namely:
- Jan 13: A 63 year-old man died in a police lock-up at the Taiping district police headquarters (IPD) in Perak.
- Jan 16: A 37-year-old man died at the Pengkalan Chepa police station at 4.35pm.
- Jan 28: A 38-year-old detainee died at the Marang police station lock-up in Terengganu.
- Jan 29: A 38-year-old man died while in police custody in Kuala Kangsar, Perak.
On Dec 16 last year, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin disclosed in Parliament that the total number of death in police custody cases for the period beginning January 2015 until September 2021 was 79 with inquest conducted only for 20 cases.
Stressing the importance of speedy action by the Coroner who is duty-bound to determine “when, where, how and what manner the deceased came by his death”, MADPET called on:
- A consideration of criminal prosecution of police and/or others that failed to comply with the requirement of the Criminal Procedure Code with regard to inquests (inquiries into death);
- Action against Session Court Judges appointed as Coroners who failed to comply with the requirement of practice directions by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court;
- The enactment of a Coroners Court Act that will also provide for the employment of paid staff to assist the Coroner in carrying out his/her duties (noting that the Coroner has the responsibility of looking into not just deaths in police custody but all deaths including deaths at workplaces when on an average there is about 150,000 or more deaths annually in Malaysia); and
- The Chief Justice of the Federal Court to disclose the number of sudden deaths and number of inquest on death in custody cases that have been registered and considered by the Coroner and their outcomes. – Feb 3, 2022 , Focus Malaysia
- See full statement at
Contempt Proceedings Against Home Minister and Others for failure to complete inquest in death in custody cases as directed by the Judiciary?
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