Brother beaten up by reckless young Policemen

I hereby write this email to whomever it may concern regarding my frustrations and disbelief on how policemen conduct their duty and how they simply catch and accuse people of being criminals. This incident happened to my little brother.

By Syed Khairuzman Syed Zain

Date : 12hb Feb, 2010
Time : 10.15pm
Place : Star LRT Sentul Station

Complete details:

1) My brother, age 18, just finished his SPM last year. He was on his way back from Kuala Lumpur and rang my dad to pick him up at the Star LRT Sentul Station.

2) He arrived at the station at around 10pm and as usual, sat on the railing in front of the station by the roadside waiting for my dad to come.

3) As he was sitting and listening to music through his ear phones, suddenly a white van came up and stopped in front of him. Four men with normal clothes came out and approached my brother and immediately grabbed his arm.

4) He started to panic and began to struggle to break free while shouting and calling for help. He thought he was about to be kidnapped.

5) All four of those unknown men failed to show any police identity or prove to my brother that they were policemen.

6) Because of that, my brother continued to struggle. He was beaten up, dragged across the road into the white van and handcuffed.

7) Inside the van, he got beaten up like a dog, hit in the stomach and ribs, kicked, and his face sat on.

8) For your information, my brother is a member of the Police Cadets in his former secondary school. He was always ready to face unexpected situations like this, and therefore forced him to react in such a way.

9) My dad himself always advised him to stay alert and keep away from unknown strangers when he is out alone in the city, especially at night.

10) My brother thought that all four men that grabbed him were criminals or child kidnappers. Therefore, he was forced to struggle to break free, even inside the van.

11) My dad arrived at the Star station at around 10.15pm to find my brother wasn't there. He started to get worried and called my brother several times but there was no answer. Of course not, he was being handcuffed. As he begged for the men to answer his phone, they refused and continued to beat him up. My dad continued to call until finally one of the men picked up the phone and told my dad that my brother has been brought to the Sentul Police Station.

12) My dad immediately rushed to the station and found that my brother had been held captive with his face bruised, belt opened and shirt all torn up and barefooted.

13) The policemen introduced themselves (I will keep their names secret for now, they were quite young) and explained what happened.

14) My dad also explained the fact that he was waiting for his son at the station and was all worried.

15) One of the policemen even had the guts to say that they didn't beat my brother up, only dragged him into the van.

16) After my dad convinced the police that my brother was drug free (as they tried to get pee samples from him), he was set free.

17) Upon reaching home, my dad found out that my brother's body was all bruised. His face, ribs, shoulders, legs and feet were bruised and full of scratches. He felt tired and rested in pain. He couldn't sleep because of the trauma.

18) The next day (Saturday - 13hb Feb 2010), my dad took him to Poliklinik Central Dan Surgeri, Gombak. The doctors checked him and gave him the medication needed.

19) The cost for the medication was RM75.

20) My brother also lost his slippers, his shirt and jacket got all torn up, and his handphone damaged due to the struggle.

I am extremely frustrated by the policemen's actions which is very unprofessional, perhaps due to age and inexperience. They couldn't differentiate between normal school kids and real criminals. Furthermore, what disturbs me the most is that they didn't reveal and couldn't prove to my brother that they were the police. They should have approached my brother in the correct way, asking for his ID and informed him that they wanted to bring him to the police station for further investigation. Not simply come and grab him as though he was a criminal. In fact, many people were waiting in front of the LRT station for their parents or someone to come as usual. And it was only 10pm, not some unearthly hour in the morning. The trains were still operating and people were returning home from work. Nothing suspicious was going on and my brother was among other people waiting.

My father has written a letter to the head of the police department to claim the medical fees as well as the cost for all the damaged items, and also demand an apology from the policemen involved in beating up my brother. My father also explained in his letter informing the police to be more careful and professional when conducting their duty.

I have attached some photos of my brother's condition and forwarded this email to other online media as well as sharing this experience with my uncle who is a retired policeman - Datuk Zaini Bin Md Hashim (ACP SAC II) Bekas Ketua Polis Sabah who is also the Ketua Unit Pencegahan Dadah Bukit Aman. I feel that many young policemen are inexperienced and do just as they please without thinking rationally. They are a disgrace to the nation and the police society. I do not blame the police entirely, I am aware that they are doing their job. Just sometimes the way they handle these situations are simply unacceptable and ridiculous.

Your feedback will be much appreciated and I hope my email will be taken seriously as I wish to find some justice. This situation may happen again in future and many other innocent youngsters could suffer the same tragedy. Something must be done immediately.