Correction : Have just been informed that the requirement that the medical officer who did the first post mortem be present when the second post mortem is performed is in compliance with a requirement by the Malaysian Medical Council.
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A draft joint statement to be endorsed by civil society groups has been sent out. It is produced below.
A press conference in relation to the matter of R. Gunasegaran’s death in custody will be convened at 11.00a.m. on Monday, 17th August, 2009 at the Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
An application to the Kuala Lumpur High Court has been filed by the solicitors acting for the family of the late Gunasegaran, seeking orders that, amongst others, the report of the post mortem that has already been carried out be given to the family of the late Gunasegaran, and that the Pusat Perubatan Universiti Hospital do perform a second post mortem.
The hearing of the application is scheduled for 9a.m. on 18th August, 2009 at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex, Criminal Court No.3, Jalan Duta. Please come to lend support in the efforts to get justice for the late Gunasegaran and his family.
I have also provided the e-mail addresses of the office of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
Please snd e-mails to both addresses demanding that they intervene in ths matter. You may wish to merely reproduce demands no. 3.1 and 3.2 in the draft statement below.
PM’s office e-mail address : 
Home Minister’s office e-mail address : webmaster@moha.gov.my
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The remains of Teoh Beng Hock have been laid to rest.
The inquest into Beng Hock’s death is underway.
We pray that the truth as to why Beng Hock is no longer with us will finally be known and that his family will, in time, be able to move on with their lives.
What about R. Gunasegaran and his next-of-kin?
Gunasegaran died in police custody on 16th January, 2009, the same day that Beng Hock died.
Guasegaran’s body still lies in the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (KLH) mortuary.
His family is anxious to retrieve his remains, perform the requisite religious rituals and then proceed to cremate Gunasegaran’s remains.
Gunasegaran’s family, though, is in a dilemma.
The police have informed the family that Gunasegaran died, whilst in their custody, of drug-related causes.
Eye-witnesses who were present when Gunasegaran was first arrested and then held at the Sentul police station have confirmed that Gunasegaran was assaulted at the time of arrest and again assaulted, this time more severely, whilst being held at the police station, lost consciousness and died without regaining consciousness.
The family have been told that the post-mortem report will only be made available after Gunasegaran’s body is removed from the mortuary and after an application has been made to the hospital authorities for the same. The family have been told that the report would be made available to them some two months after their application for the same.
Acting on the instructions of the family members of Gunasegaran, solicitors wrote :
- by letter dated 29th July, 2009 to the Registrar of the Kuala Lumpur Subordinate Courts to notify the same of the death in police custody of Gunasegaran and to request that an inquest into the cause of death be held. We have not been informed by the solicitors if they have received any response from the court registry in relation thereto, or if a date for the hearing of the inquest has been set;
- by letter dated 29th July, 2009 to the Jabatan Perubatan Forensik, KLH to formally request for a copy of the post mortem report. No reply has been received to-date;
- by letter dated 29th July, 2009 to the Pusat Perubatan Universiti Hospital (PPUH) to request that a second post mortem be performed on the remains of Gunasegaran. The solicitors were informed that such a post mortem could only be undertaken if the police authorities confirmed their agreement to the same in writing;
- by letter dated 30th July, 2009 to the OCPD of the Sentul police station to request that a letter be issued to PPUH to confirm that the police had no objections to the latter undertaking a second post mortem on the remains of Gunasegaran.
The solicitors representing the family of Gunasegaran, concerned that the authorities who had been written to may not respond favourably, filed an application in the Kuala Lumpur High Court seeking orders for, amongst others, that a copy of the first post mortem report be made available to the family, and that the PPUH proceed to perform the second post mortem.
The application in the High Court is now scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, 18th August, 2009.
Dr. Prashant of the PPUH, who is scheduled to do the second post mortem, and who is also scheduled to give evidence in the Beng Hock inquest, was prepared to do the second post mortem today, but had been informed by the police that the medical officer who performed the first post mortem must be present when the second procedure is performed. As to when this medical officer will avail himself so that the second post mortem may proceed without any further delay, no one can say.
In the light of the eye-witness accounts disclosed to the family of how Gunasegaran was assaulted at the time of arrest and during his detention, the unavailability of the report of the post mortem that has already been carried out and the seeming reluctance on the part of police authorities to allow the second post mortem to be carried expeditiously and thereby to either confirm or dispel the assertions of these eye-witnesses, how can anyone expect the family of Gunasegaran to proceed to perform the funeral rites for Gunasegaran without any further delay?
This is why Gunasegaran’s body still remains in the mortuary.
We now demand that :
- the court authorities immediately hold an inquest to look into the cause of death of Gunasegaran.
- the hospital authorities stop this practice of deferring the delivery of the post-mortem report to the next-of-kin, in ‘death in police custody’ cases, until after the body has been buried and / or cremated. Given the suspicious circumstances of deaths in many of these cases, it is simply unacceptable that the next-of-kin in such cases should not be privy to this important report before the body of the deceased is buried or cremated. We note that in the Kugan case, the family of the deceased there were at least informed of the substantive findings from the first post mortem report.;
- either the Prime Minister or the Home Minister immediately intervene in this matter so that :
3.1 the report of the post mortem that has already been performed will be made available to the family of
Gunasegaran; and
3.2 PPUH may proceed to perform the second post mortem.
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