Police deputy head honcho guns down IPCMC

Deputy inspector-general of police Mohd Bakri Zinin has poured cold water on renewed calls for the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to keep his men in check following a string of deaths in custody.

"The laws are already there. The EAIC (Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission) is already there.
"There is no point in discussing the IPCMC," he was reported as saying by The Star Online today.

Mohd Bakri (left) was quoted as saying that the existing laws were already stronger than the IPCMC, and should be enforced .

However, he acknowledged weaknesses in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in lock-ups and promised that the force will improve on it.
‘Suicides cannot be ruled out’

Meanwhile according to Bernama, Mohd Bakri said the possibility that deaths in custody were self inflicted could not be ruled out.

"Often those detained are emotional and suicide attempts by hitting their heads against the wall cannot be ruled out.

“We cannot prevent such things but we will endeavour lockups are safe to use," he said.     

He said the deaths should therefore not be attributed to the mistakes and carelessness of the police and be claimed to involve certain communities only.   

Mohd Bakri said the police was formulating a strategy to enforce the existing regulations and standard operating procedure (SOP) and overcoming weaknesses to ensure such incidents could be reduced. 
He said, police would also look at the need to cooperate in certain matters with the related agencies such as the Health Ministry and non-government organisations so that police could carry out their duties properly and in an orderly manner.

The EAIC which lacks prosecution powers is a watered down version of the IPCMC recommended in 2005 by a royal commission of inquiry on improving the police force.

In first of half of this year alone there have been nine custodial deaths year alone, with the most serious being that of N Dhamendran who was believed to have been tortured as 52 injuries were found on his body.

His case has been classified the case as murder and on June 5 three police officers were charged with the offence for, a fourth police officer involved in is on the run.

PSM erred, M'sians voted party and not candidates

INTERVIEW Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) performed badly in the May 5 general election, winning just one of the four seats it contested, because it was banking on Malaysians voting for individual candidates, instead of along party lines.

"We were expecting the people to vote according to the individual. But when it came to a three-cornered fight, the voters tended to pick the bigger party in the battle," said PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan.

In this case, such as in the state seats of Semenyih and Kota Damansara in Selangor and Jelapang in Perak, they picked Pakatan Rakyat-member candidates, knowing that the opposition coalition had a much better chance of forming the next federal government if it did well.
Umno won Semenyih and Kota Damansara - where PSM chairperson Nasir Hashim failed to retain his seat - due to the split opposition votes between Pakatan and PSM, while DAP was triumphant in Jelapang.
PSM contested one parliamentary seat and one state seat under the PKR logo and two other state seats using its controversial clenched-fist logo.
It lost all the seats contested, except for the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in Perak, which Dr Michael Jeyakumar retained on a PKR ticket.

"There were many people who supported us and came forward after the elections to wish us well, but admitted that when it came to voting, they had on choice but to vote Pakatan as their desire for a change in government was strong," Arutchelvan said.

The PSM secretary-general was locked in a three-cornered battle for the Semenyih seat because of PKR's refusal to make way for him to contest one-on-one against BN.
However, Arutchelvan said, the number of votes he garnered was proof that PSM's relevance among grassroots was increasing.

"For a third party to pull in more than 5,000 votes in its direction is quite an achievement. Normally, the third party pulls only a few hundred votes," he said.
'We put socialism back on the map'

After the election, PSM's membership base increased by at least 200 members, which he described as a high number, considering that party's small base of 14,000 members was proof that many more were joining the party because of its ideology.

"People say we are a great party, but we lack in branding and presentation. We need help in improving that," he said.

PSM was also beginning to raise various issues of national concern so that it would no longer be perceived as a party that fights for welfare of estate workers, which was something PSM had widely championed since its early years.

"We have put socialism back on the map in Malaysia," he added.

According to Arutchelvan, Pakatan's inability to pull in rural votes was the reason for its failure to capture Putrajaya, while pointing out that the opposition pact also did lose some Malay votes, compared with the 2008 general election.

"Even in Sungai Siput, there were some Malay votes lost," he said.

In order to address the issue, Pakatan should start working in the rural constituencies far earlier than campaign day.

"They must work harder at the grassroots level," Arutchelvan said, while quipping that massive rallies that have of late been organised by the opposition were only attracting urban voters.

49 injuries found on custodial death victim Karuna

Contrary to police claims of no foul play and no injuries on custodial death victim P Karuna Nithi's body, the victim's autopsy report shows he had sustained 49 injuries.

These are predominately bruises caused by a blunt object on the chest and limbs, according to the report prepared by Tuanku Jaafar hospital forensic consultant Dr Sharifah Safoorah Syed Alwee Al'Aidrus.

PKR public complaints bureau chief S Manikavasagam said the report contradicts what the police have initially claimed.

"The CPO of Negri Sembilan (Osman Salleh) had come up and said there is ‘no injury, no foul play, nothing. (They said) we have never beaten him up.'

"Before the post-mortem had been completed, he came up with a press statement saying that these are all rumours and told the public not to believe them.

"So today, it is very clear: 49 injuries. These are new injuries," said Manikavasagam when contacted today.

He said he accompanied Karuna's family to see Sharifah yesterday to receive a one-hour briefing regarding her findings and the report, a copy of which has been sent to Malaysiakini.

Karuna, an engineer, died on June 1 at the Tampin police district headquarters, a day before the family could raise money to post bail for him after he was charged on May 31 for "causing hurt".

‘Injuries did not cause death'

Despite the report of the injuries however, the autopsy report concluded the cause of death to be "fatty change of the liver", a condition commonly associated with alcoholism or obesity.

She added that the injuries did not involve the muscles or the skeleton, and on its own, could not have been a direct cause of death.

"Fatty change of the liver causes death through hypoglycaemia (abnormally low blood sugar content) and/or electrolyte imbalance, both of which cannot be proven in a post-mortem.

"This condition is possibly compounded by absence of partially digested food material in the gastric cavity," she wrote.

When asked to explain the findings, Manikavasagam (above) said the pathologist had speculated during the briefing that Karuna had not been eating while in detention and was too frail to survive any beating as a result.

Manikavasagam, who is also the former Kapar MP, said Karuna's family has lodged a police report at the Seremban police district headquarters today against CPO Osman over the latter's claims that there was no foul play in Karuna's death.

They will also raise the issue in a memorandum to the Bukit Aman police headquarters on Tuesday, and another to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) later next week.

Sugumar's family mulls suit

Meanwhile, in the case of another death in custody victim C Sugumar, lawyer Latheefa Koya said the family is mulling to sue the government and the police for causing suffering to them and Sugumar.

Sugumar was found dead on Jan 23, allegedly after being chased by the police, handcuffed, and beaten by them and a crowd who had joined in the chase.

However, Latheefa said they will wait for Serdang Hospital's autopsy report first before deciding on their next move.

They were previously told by Sugumar's pathologist that he had died of a heart attack, and requests for a second autopsy were unsuccessful.