(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

I call for a public inquiry into the shocking allegation of “prison inmates pepper-sprayed on their private parts during quarantine”.

The families of 10 prison inmates have filed police reports after their incarcerated relatives claimed to have been abused while being quarantined at the Jelebu Prison in Negeri Sembilan.

Among the allegations is that the inmates’ genitals and anuses were pepper-sprayed causing them to be unable to urinate or defecate.

At the media conference in Cheras yesterday, some family members wept while telling their relatives’ ordeals.

One of them, R Lavaniyaa, said her husband B Kalaiarasan was contemplating suicide.

“He said ‘If I stay inside I will die in prison. I will either kill myself or be beaten to death’” said Lavaniyaa.

She was too overwhelmed to continue speaking.

According to her police report, on April 8 her husband and 21 other detainees were transferred from the Sungai Udang Prison in Malacca to be quarantined for 14 days at the Jelebu Prison after returning from the Seremban courts.

There, they were allegedly beaten by prison officers using PVC pipes while they were still handcuffed before being beaten by others using canes, pipes, chairs, wood pieces and other objects for what he claimed was for an hour.

Some of those who allegedly attacked the inmates wore plain clothes including shorts and slippers.

After the beating, they were then ordered into a room in pairs of two, told to take off their pants and underwear before a prison guard allegedly pepper sprayed their private parts.

They were then reportedly told to lie on the floor naked. Lavaniyaa claimed that according to Kalaiarasan, the inmates were later subjected to more beatings that carried on into the night.

Her brother-in-law’s wife Elisha Teh, who was present, said they met Kalaiarasan on April 27 – the first time they’d met this year. During that meeting, Kalaiarasan complained that his genitals were still bleeding.

None of the 22 detainees allegedly abused and beaten received hospital treatment except for one person who was hospitalised because of tuberculosis.

It is shocking and completely unacceptable that prisoners are treated worse than animals, completely denied their human rights.

It is equally shocking that many hair-raising stories about cruelty, brutality and inhumanity in prisons and police lock-ups are appearing during the tenure of Hamzah Zainuddin as Home Minister and even the retiring Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador had complained in his farewell media conference last Friday, four days before the end of this term, that Hamzah had politically interfered with the police and prevented it from becoming an independent, professional and world-class police force.

Last Wednesday, I had called for a public inquiry into the death of A. Ganapathy, who had worked as a trader selling cow’s milk and had two children aged five and seven years old.

The death of Ganapathy occurred almost one month after being admitted to the Selayang Hospital’s intensive care unit following his arrest by police to assist an investigation.

The deceased’s mother claimed that her son was denied his right to receive medical treatment, and he was beaten, resulting in a serious injury while he was in detention.

Forty-year-old A Ganapathy was arrested on Feb 24 to facilitate an investigation into a sibling who was wanted by the police.

He was released on March 8 but was admitted to Selayang Hospital’s intensive care unit.

His 60-year-old mother, S Thanaletchumy, said her son told her that police had beaten him with a rubber hose.

His family claimed Ganapathy’s health deteriorated because of his stint in police custody, resulting in his leg being swollen and bruised as though he had been beaten.

I had welcomed the MIC proposal for an independent investigation into the death of A. Ganapathy, but unfortunately, the MIC Minister, the Minister for Human Resources, Datuk Seri Saravanan Murugan dared not raise the issue in Cabinet.

MIC had also called for the long-talked about Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be set up. But again, Saravanan dared not take up the IPCMC issue in Cabinet.

The IPCMC idea was first proposed in the Royal Police Commision report in 2004.

Three Prime Ministers have come and gone, and the fourth Prime Minister who had committed himself to set up the IPCMC in 2019 when he was Home Minister in 2019 is still dragging his feet on the matter.

Malaysians must speak up to demand public inquiries into the shocking allegation of “prison inmates pepper-sprayed on their private parts during quarantine” as well as into the death A. Ganapathy.

Is Parliament being suspended to allow untrammelled and unchecked abuse of power by certain political leaders?

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, May 2, 2021)

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Seruan siasatan terbuka mengenai tuduhan mengejutkan di mana “banduan disembur dengan penyembur lada di bahagian sulit semasa kuarantin”

Saya menyeru supaya satu siasatan terbuka mengenai tuduhan mengejutkan di mana “banduan disembur dengan penyembur lada di bahagian sulit semasa kuarantin”

Keluarga 10 tahanan penjara telah membuat laporan polis setelah saudara mereka yang dipenjara mengaku dianiaya ketika dikuarantin di Penjara Jelebu di Negeri Sembilan.

Antara tuduhan tersebut adalah bahawa alat kelamin dan jubur tahanan disembur lada menyebabkan mereka tidak dapat membuang air kecil atau buang air besar.

Pada sidang media di Cheras semalam, beberapa ahli keluarga menangis ketika memberitahu penderitaan saudara mereka.

Salah seorang dari mereka, R Lavaniyaa, mengatakan suaminya B Kalaiarasan berfikir untuk membunuh diri.

“Dia berkata ‘Jika saya tinggal di dalam, saya akan mati di penjara. Saya akan bunuh diri atau dipukul hingga mati'” kata Lavaniyaa.

Dia terlalu hiba untuk terus bercakap.

Menurut laporan polisnya, pada 8 April suaminya dan 21 tahanan lain dipindahkan dari Penjara Sungai Udang di Melaka untuk dikuarantin selama 14 hari di Penjara Jelebu setelah kembali dari mahkamah Seremban.

Di sana, mereka mendakwa dipukul oleh pegawai penjara menggunakan paip PVC sementara mereka masih digari sebelum dipukul oleh dengan menggunakan tongkat, paip, kerusi, kepingan kayu dan benda lain selama satu jam.

Sebahagian daripada mereka yang dikatakan menyerang banduan memakai pakaian biasa termasuk seluar pendek dan selipar.

Setelah dipukul, mereka kemudian diperintahkan ke sebuah bilik secara berpasangan dua orang, disuruh menanggalkan seluar dan seluar dalam mereka sebelum seorang warden penjara didakwa menyembur lada ke bahagian peribadi mereka.

Mereka kemudian diberitahu untuk berbaring di lantai dalam keadaan telanjang. Lavaniyaa mendakwa bahawa menurut Kalaiarasan, banduan kemudiannya terus dipukul berlanjutan hingga malam.

Isteri abang iparnya, Elisha Teh, yang hadir, mengatakan bahawa mereka bertemu dengan Kalaiarasan pada 27 April – kali pertama mereka bertemu tahun ini. Dalam pertemuan itu, Kalaiarasan mengadu bahawa alat kelaminnya masih berdarah.

Tidak ada 22 tahanan yang didakwa dianiaya dan dipukul mendapat rawatan di hospital kecuali satu orang yang dimasukkan ke hospital kerana batuk kering.

Sangat mengejutkan dan tidak boleh diterima bahawa tahanan diperlakukan lebih buruk daripada haiwan, sama sekali menafikan hak asasi mereka.

Sama mengejutkan apabila banyak kisah mengenai kekejaman dan kezaliman yang tidak berperikemanusiaan di penjara dan lokap polis muncul semasa Hamzah Zainuddin menjadi Menteri Dalam Negeri dan bahkan Ketua Polis Negara yang bakal bersara, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador dalam sidang media perpisahannya pada hari Jumaat yang lalu, empat hari sebelum akhir penggal ini, mengatakan bahawa Hamzah selalu melakukan campur tangan politik terhadap pasukan polis dan menghalangnya daripada menjadi pasukan polis yang bebas, profesional dan bertaraf dunia.

Rabu lalu, saya telah meminta siasatan terbuka diadakan mengenai kematian A. Ganapathy, yang pernah bekerja sebagai peniaga menjual susu lembu dan mempunyai dua orang anak berusia lima dan tujuh tahun.

Kematian Ganapathy berlaku hampir satu bulan selepas dia dimasukkan ke unit rawatan rapi Hospital Selayang berikutan penangkapannya oleh polis untuk membantu siasatan.

Ibu si mati mendakwa bahawa anaknya dinafikan haknya untuk mendapatkan rawatan perubatan, dan dia dipukul, mengakibatkan kecederaan parah ketika dia dalam tahanan.

A Ganapathy yang berusia empat puluh tahun ditangkap pada 24 Februari untuk memudahkan siasatan terhadap adik beradik yang dikehendaki oleh polis.

Dia dibebaskan pada 8 Mac tetapi dimasukkan ke unit rawatan rapi Hospital Selayang.

Ibunya yang berusia 60 tahun, S Thanaletchumy, mengatakan bahawa anaknya memberitahu bahawa polis telah memukulnya dengan paip getah.

Keluarganya mendakwa kesihatan Ganapathy merosot dalam tahanan polis, mengakibatkan kakinya bengkak dan lebam seolah-olah dia dipukul.

Saya telah mengalu-alukan cadangan MIC untuk membuka satu penyiasatan terbuka terhadap kematian A. Ganapathy, tetapi sayangnya, Menteri MIC, Menteri Sumber Manusia, Datuk Seri Saravanan Murugan tidak berani membangkitkan masalah ini dalam Kabinet.

MIC juga meminta agar dibentuk Suruhanjaya Bebas Aduan dan Salah Laku Polis (IPCMC) yang telah lama dibicarakan. Tetapi sekali lagi, Saravanan tidak berani mengambil isu IPCMC di Kabinet.

Idea IPCMC pertama kali dicadangkan dalam laporan Suruhanjaya Diraja mengenai Polis pada tahun 2004.

Tiga Perdana Menteri telah datang dan pergi, dan Perdana Menteri keempat yang telah berkomitmen untuk menubuhkan IPCMC pada tahun 2019 ketika dia menjadi Menteri Dalam Negeri pada tahun 2019 masih terus berdiri.

Rakyat Malaysia mesti bersuara untuk menuntut siasatan terbuka mengenai tuduhan mengejutkan di mana “tahanan penjara disembur lada di bahagian peribadi mereka semasa kuarantin” dan juga isu kematian A. Ganapathy.

Adakah Parlimen digantung untuk membenarkan penyalahgunaan kuasa yang tidak teratur dan tidak terkawal oleh pemimpin politik tertentu?

(Kenyataan Media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Ahad, 2 Mei 2021)