PDrMtorture

61-year-old petty trader claims torture while in police custody

By Llew-Ann Phang
llew_ann@thesundaily.com

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Fri: A 61-year-old petty trader lodged a report today, claiming that police beat and tortured him when he was detained on suspicion of house-breaking.

Ng Khoo Eam sought treatment at the Bukit Mertajam Hospital after making the report.

Relating his ordeal at a press conference today, a teary-eyed Ng said he had gone to a sundry shop in Bukit Tengah on Feb 7, after returning from Haadyai, when three plainclothes policemen ordered him to follow them to the Bukit Tengah police station.

He alleged he was blindfolded, kicked and slapped at the station.

"I kept asking them what wrong I had done but they just replied 'kurang ajar' and accused me of breaking into a house.

"The accusations did not just stop there. They accused me of trying to run away and even trying to run down someone," he said, adding that the session lasted for about 30 minutes.

He said he was tortured again when he was taken to the Bukit Mertajam police station.

"I was taken to the Bukit Mertajam magistrate's court on Feb 9 after which they took me back to the police station.

"They stripped me naked and made me sit on a slab of ice, put another slab of ice on my lap and shoved two more behind my back where my hands were cuffed," he recalled.

Ng was released on Feb 10.

Penanti assemblyman Abdul Rahman Kadir, who accompanied Ng to make his report urged Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai to investigate.

Seberang Perai Tengah OCPD Supt Noor Rashid Ibrahim confirmed that a report was lodged about noon today, but said he was unable to comment as he did not have the details.

I was beaten while in police custody, says car repossessor

By Cynthia Blemin
cynthia@thesundaily.com

JOHOR BARU, Fri: A 40-year-old car repossessor alleged that he was wrongfully detained and beaten while in police custody and was only released after eight days.

Ngui Tek Choi said he was beaten with a hard object and punched by several policemen after being picked up by police for allegedly being involved in stealing a Singapore-registered car.

Ngui told a press conference he was picked up by nine plainclothes policemen outside a temple in Ulu Tiram at 10pm on Feb 7.

"The men handcuffed me and told me to get into one of the two cars driven by them to the Plentong police station.

"I was informed by one of them that I was being detained for allegedly stealing a car," he said.

He said the policemen refused to listen to his explanation that the Singapore-registered car was loaned to him by the owner of a workshop, where he had left his car for repairs.

Ngui said he was taken to a room at the police station and was blindfolded. "I was punched and kicked by several men and beaten on my feet with a sharp object," he said.

He said his lawyer, Terlok Singh, and his wife were not allowed to see him while he was in police custody.

He was released by police on Feb 14 and he lodged a report yesterday at the Johor Baru central police station.

Johor Baru deputy OCPD (East Zone) Supt Idris Ismail confirmed a police report has been lodged, but declined to comment further.

World Sympathetic to Anwar

K U A L A   L U M P U R, Malaysia, Oct. 2 — World leaders condemned the reported police assault on sacked cabinet minister Anwar Ibrahim as a Malaysian court prepared to take up sodomy and corruption charges against him next week.
     U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Philippine President Joseph Estrada, World Bank President James Wolfensohn and U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin expressed distress over reports the former finance minister had been beaten by police.
     Anwar, who was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on September 2 and arrested 18 days later, appeared in court this week with a blackened left eye after 10 days in police detention, setting off a firestorm of international criticism.
Foreign Governments Deplore Treatment
“Anwar is a friend of mine, and when I saw him with a black eye and bruises, it troubles me,” Wolfensohn said in Washington.
     Anwar said he had been punched and slapped while blindfolded, left unconscious and denied medical attention for five days. A doctor appointed by Anwar’s wife said in a report that he believed Anwar had been assaulted while in custody.
     But Mahathir has said Anwar might have provoked police, and the government named two doctors on Friday to examine him.
     Once Malaysia’s representative on the international financial stage, Anwar has been sacked, repudiated by his party and charged with crimes he denies. An anti-government movement calling for Mahathir to step down has sprung up around Anwar.
     Rubin said Anwar was a highly respected member of the international financial community and “the way he was treated in prison is deeply, deeply troubling.”
     Several foreign governments have expressed regret over the treatment of Anwar and raised questions about attending next month’s Asia-Pacific summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Demonstrations Rare
But leaders have said they will still attend the November 17-18 meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and diplomats said a venue change was unlikely so late in the day.
     For the first Friday in five weeks, there were no pro-Anwar rallies outside key mosques in the Malaysian capital after weekly congregational prayers.
     Before he was arrested, Anwar had spoken at several mosques, drawing thousands of supporters shouting “Reformasi” (Reform).
     Anwar, 51, said he was speaking out for justice and against corruption, while Mahathir accused him of trying to incite “Indonesian-style riots” to put an end to his 17-year rule.
     In a strongly worded editorial, the Jakarta Post said on Friday that Mahathir had “sown the seeds of his own downfall. He has created a martyr.”
     Anwar’s arrest provoked street demonstrations, extremely rare in Malaysia, and led to the arrest of more than 200 people for illegal assembly and 17 including Anwar under the Internal Security Act, which provides for detention without trial.
     The street protests have died down since Anwar was indicted for sodomy and corruption in two courts this week.
     One of Anwar’s lawyers told Reuters that the Kuala Lumpur High Court would take up the 10 charges on Monday and set a date for the trial. Zainur Zakaria said Anwar would plead not guilty to the charges, which his client calls politically motivated.

Close Ally Resigns
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, one of seven men released this week from detention under the ISA, resigned on Friday as leader of the youth wing of Mahathir’s United Malays National Organisation.
     Zahid was considered a close ally of Anwar’s and had spoken out against cronyism at UMNO’s annual meeting in June, stirring resentment among Mahathir’s supporters.
     Zahid had come under intense pressure to resign his UMNO Youth post after Anwar was sacked. He had resisted until he was picked up on September 21 under the ISA.
     On Friday, he said he was quitting the post for the sake of UMNO, but he did not publicly repudiate his ties with Anwar.
     Malaysian lawyers and the opposition leader assailed the government for using the ISA as a linchpin in a crackdown on anti-government dissent.
     Lim Kit Siang, leader of the Democratic Action Party, called for the immediate release of Anwar and nine others held under the ISA “so that Malaysia does not become an international pariah like the Myanmar military junta.”
     The Malaysian Bar Council, announcing a special meeting for October 10, denounced the ISA as “an obnoxious piece of legislation undermining fundamental human rights.”
     U.S. television company CNBC said on Friday that Malaysian police visited its Singapore offices this week about recent interviews with Anwar and his wife. It was not known whether Singapore authorities knew of the visit by Malaysian police.