Charge the police for battery, JIPS probe, lawyers present CCTV recording of police abuse

Lawyers of a 20-year old have demanded Bukit Aman to charge a group of policemen who abused their client for battery in court.

In addition to that, they wanted the police’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) to take disciplinary action.

“Investigation is about asking questions. You can choose to answer or not answer. It is not about beating up a person. We want the officers to be charged for battery.

“JIPS must take necessary action against them,” said lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan at a press conference.

The youth, who asked to be known as Daniel, was arrested on Nov 15 at his grandfather’s home in Banting.

Daniel said he was repeatedly beaten, even while unconscious in the police car, and alleged that officers had used a cigarette butt and lighter to burn his lip and genitals.

“He was smoking a cigarette and while doing that, he took the cigarette and pressed it against my lip. He took a lighter and burned my private parts with it,” Daniel said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya.

“Without any warning, he was immediately beaten, kicked, punched and slapped multiple times.

“This is a case of mistaken identity. The police themselves admitted they got the wrong person. But the beatings and the kicking already happened from the very beginning,” Latheefa Koya said.

The lawyers said the CCTV evidence clearly showed the assault, and urged immediate action to prevent a cover-up.

Daniel’s mother said she had lodged a police report on Nov 18, after seeing her son with a swollen face.

She was pressured to withdraw the report to reach a “win-win situation” since the police subsequently clarified the case is classified as no further action and Daniel was misidentified.

“He said if I withdrew the report, my son’s case would be dropped. If I proceeded, the police wrongdoing would only result in a two-year jail term and a fine of RM2,000. But my son’s case could result in 14 years in prison.”

Rajesh also clarified the Banting Hospital confirmed that Daniel suffered from a soft tissue injury over his right shoulder, multiple abrasion wounds on his legs, and burn marks on his lower lip.