Duo sue police for 'torture' during questioning

(Malaysiakini) Three years ago, it would have never crossed Prabakar Bala Krishna's mind that he would be made to suffer for things that he would not even consider doing.

When he was picked up by police on the night of Dec 23, 2008 - along with another individual, Solomon Raj Chandran - he assumed that it was a routine anti-crime check that wouldn't take too long to resolve.

However, what he was to experience in the following days have left him severely traumatised and afraid, he said today.

After five days in police custody, Prabakar and Solomon were released with multiple injuries - particularly, extensive scalding of their bodies, the result of police officers allegedly pouring hot water over them during interrogation.

"When they arrested me, they just told me that I was a suspected criminal. I followed them because I thought they just wanted to check my urine,” claimed Prabakar, speaking in Tamil.

"But when we reached Brickfields (police station), they started beating me up. When I asked them why, they told me to shut up and admit to various criminal charges, which I refused to do."

Prabakar was at the Jalan Duta court complex in Kuala Lumpur today, to jointly file a suit with Solomon against eight police officers and the government over the alleged torture.

Aside from scalding, the pair have accused the police of repeatedly assaulting them and, in Prabakar's case, allegedly hanging him from a ceiling fan using a rope and threatening to kill him using the rope.

Prabakar claimed that, on the day he was released, the police warned him not to tell a soul about the alleged torture, especially since he had clear scald marks on his body.

"...and if anyone asks about the scalding, to just say that I spilled hot mee soup over myself," said the 30-year-old lorry driver.

Prabakar (left in photo) said he has been so afraid ever since the incident that he has had to seek psychiatric treatment. He said the doctor who tended to him has confirmed that he is suffering from severe trauma.

"Even my friends are ignoring me now. They call me crazy," he said, recalling their reaction to his seeing a shrink.

'Judiciary must share blame'

Lawyer N Surendran, who is representing Prabakar and Solomon, said the alleged torture was just one of countless cases where the public have suffered from police impunity.

However, he stressed that the blame does not lie only with the police and the Home Ministry - which he said constantly politicises the issue in defence of the police - but also the judiciary.

"It is the attitude of the judiciary, where the judges think that the police are perfect, hardworking and not capable of doing such things,” he said.

"Automatically they tend to believe the police and not the complainants. Our judges are like ostriches, where they refuse to know what happens in police cells."

Surendran (right), who is also PKR vice-president, acknowledged that his clients' suit will be difficult to pursue due to the judiciary's alleged bias towards the police.

However, he pointed out that the action still serves an important purpose - of keeping this case on record as a reminder to the public that the police must be held accountable if they mistreat detainees.

The joint suit seeks compensation for loss of income suffered by both plaintiffs over the course of their detention, on top of general, exemplary and punitive damages among others.

The suit is a follow up to a KL Sessions Court decision on Sept 12 , ordering two police sergeants - Mohd Shafiee Abdul Halim and Mohd Diah Sulaiman - to enter their defence on two charges of injuring Prabakar and Solomon.

Bernama reported that Mohd Shafiee and Mohd Diah are charged on one count of physically intimidating Prabakar with intent to obtain a confession from him between 10.15pm on Dec 23, 2008 and 3.30am on Dec 24, 2008 at the Brickfields police station criminal investigation department.

The two sergeants were also charged with five other police officers with allegedly hurting Solomon at the same time and place.

The other five - Zulkiplly Taib, Abdullah Musa, Zamrin Zaid, Matila@Saudi Ismail and Nizam Abd Wahab - were discharged and acquitted as the prosecution could not prove their involvement in the incident.

All seven officers, Brickfields district police chief ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid and the government are named as respondents in the joint suit.