Police had dismissed the caim and demanded Namewee lodge a police report so it can be investigated, if he insists it is true.
However, Gobind said there is no need for police to wait for a report to be lodged before it conducts an internal probe.
Further, if a report is required the police can lodge one themselves if they indeed are earnest in investigating the matter, he said.
"We are talking about detenions here. A complaint has been made, and a very serious one indeed.
"The police shouldn’t merely respond with a challenge for a police report to be lodged. That cannot be enough," he said in a statement.
He said Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should also act swiftly on the matter on "humanitarian grounds".
'May die in custody'
Namewee, or his full name Wee Meng Chee, was held for four days last week, after being arrested for his controversial music video Oh My God, is in poor condition.
On his release, he took to Facebook to reveal the allegedly deplorable conditions of the lock-up, and expressed fear that the 15 Myanmar detainees also held there may die while in custody.
"I encountered about 15 illegal immigrants from Myanmar, who had spent more than 30 days in detention.
"They were locked in a poor condition small room with nobody to bail them out. They were stuck there because their employers had fled with their identifications," Wee said in an Aug 27 posting, which was later taken down.
Wee said he suspected the Myanmar detainees suffered from tuberculosis and they were unable to tell the police this because of language problems.
He also claimed that the detainees may not be able to receive help as the hospital may not take in foreigners with no identification papers.
'Police warned me not to talk'
"Police warned me not to talk about the lock-up, but sorry, they may die inside one by one if I don't speak up," he said.
Penang police chief Abdul Ghafar Rajab denied Namewee’s allegations, saying that there is a standard operating procedure (SOP) to adhere to and detainees who are sick or unwell will be sent to the hospital.
“If he is sincere, then please lodge a police report so we can open an investigation.
“However, if the allegations are found to be untrue, we will investigate them as a false report,” Ghafar was quoted as saying by English daily The Star today.
The police arrested the 31-year-old rapper following multiple police reports lodged in George Town on July 30 over Namewee's music video titled Oh My God. He was detained on Aug 21.
The police reports complained that the music video had used the word "Allah" in a disrespectful manner and portrayed Muslims as terrorists.
The reports also took issue with the portrayal of Muslims gambling and the use of the 'azan' (call for prayer) in the music video.
No comments:
Post a Comment