‘Dharmendran not given legal aid after arrest’

The Star
K Pragalath and G Lavendran

The police failed to ensure that Dharmendran had sufficient legal representation, says Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar today pointed out that the police failed to comply to procedures in arresting N Dharmendran, who died in police custody last Tuesday.

“The police is required to inform the family of the suspect. They are also required to inform the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) so that the suspect will have sufficient legal representation,” the Malaysian Bar said in a statement.

It added that the guidelines for enforcement officers stipulated that as soon as an arrest has been made, and before the suspect is questioned, the police officer must inform the suspect’s family (or friend) of the arrest.

The police must also provide details of the suspect and the arrest to YBGK, who will then dispatch a lawyer to offer legal representation to the arrested person.

“However, we understand that YBGK did not receive any notification from the police about Dharmendran’s arrest.

“We regret to note that this is the second occasion that we are aware of where YBGK was not notified of an arrest, and the detainee later died in police custody,” said Bar president Christopher Leong.

Dharmendran was arrested on May 11 and died 10 days later. Last Thursday, his death was classified as murder.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Salleh confirmed that an independent task force has been set up at Bukit Aman to probe the death.

Prior to this, the police also failed to inform YGBK on the death in custody of 32-year-old K Nagarajan. He was found dead on Dec 24, 2012 in the Dang Wangi police station lockup.

Leong also reiterated calls for the formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission as well as the formation of a specialised Coroner’s Court to probe into deaths in police custody.

On another note, he also welcomed Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar’s role in heading a special committee established to take measures to prevent deaths in police lockups.

“Such measures provide some assurance of the level of seriousness being accorded to the grave issue of deaths in police custody,” said Leong.

Yesterday Bukit Aman management director, Mortadza Nazarene said that the committee would among others monitor the safety aspects and health condition of those detained by police in lock ups which would also include the setting up of closed circuit televisions (CCTV).

“Police are concerned with a spate of incidents involving deaths in police lock ups and we are viewing such matters very seriously to prevent similar cases,” he said.

‘Just another cover up’

The setting up of the special committee was however criticised by PKR vice president N Surendran who is also the legal counsel to Dharmendran’s family.

“The police came up with these suggestions right after A Kugan’s case in 2009, none of it has been implemented till today,” he said.

“This is just to show the public that the police is concerned and that they are taking action. But this is really just a cover up to hide the truth from the people,” he added.

Surendran also rubbished Khalid’s competency in heading the special panel.

“Khalid is not the right person to lead this special squad, he is incompetent and not worthy for that post. He was the Selangor police chief when Kugan and Aminulrasyid were found dead, he has done nothing to fight for the justice of those people.

“If he disagrees or is not happy with my statement, I challenge him to take me to court. I will still stick to my words that he is incompetent,” he said.