“Recent
enquiries into deaths of persons that occur whilst in the custody of,
or in or around the premises of, law enforcement agencies, have resulted
in ‘open’ verdicts,” lamented Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee (left).Therefore, he said a Coroners’ Act needs to be introduced, which would establish the position of a state coroner and coroners. Both would be appointed by the prime minister on the chief justice’s recommendation.
“The coroner would be responsible for supervising investigations by the police, ensuring that all relevant evidence is gathered, presiding over enquiries, and making findings,” he said in a statement today.
As for the state coroner, Lim said the position needs to be filled by a Sessions Court judge, who is more senior than the magistrates currently conducting inquests.
He added that the Act would also need a clearly stated aim about identifying the deceased and the circumstances of his death, as well as prescribing that only pathologists or medical pracitioners working under their supervision may conduct post-mortems.
“Although Chapter XXXII of the Criminal Procedure Code requires that all custodial deaths be investigated by way of inquest, no inquest is held in most instances.
“Every death in custody must be thoroughly and impartially investigated. Nagarajan’s death must not be relegated to a mere statistic,” Lim said.
Nagarajan was held for on suspicion of a drug-related offence on Dec 21 at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters, but was found dead in the lockup three days later.
Police had claimed that he had died of a fall, but family members who had found gashes and bruises on Nagarajan’s body have disputed this.
Lim also expressed concern that the police had not informed Nagarajan’s next-of-kin and the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) about his arrest.
He said this is part of the protocol prescribed by the YBGK scheme.
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