FOLLOWING exposes on political interference in the police force and mounting number of custodial deaths, a political leader explained on why a separate agency is needed to investigate the police as opposed to relying on the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) alone.
“The EAIC has the authority to conduct probe on all enforcement agencies in Malaysia such as the police, Immigration Department, Royal Malaysia Customs and others.
“But if you look at the statistics, almost 70% of the complaints investigated by the agency is related to police misconduct. That is why we need a separate agency to specifically probe complaints against the police,” Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan told FocusM.
Note that while EAIC has the power to investigate complaints, it has no authority to take action against errant officers.
Last month, A Ganapathy died in a hospital after allegedly being tortured by the Gombak police during detention.
However, Gombak district police chief Arifai Tarawe dismissed allegations that Ganapathy was abused under police custody. He made the assumption as the deceased never mentioned the matter to the magistrate, despite being brought there three times (Feb 25, March 2 and March 6).
Political nexus with the police
The senior cop also said that Ganapathy was brought to the hospital four times (Feb 28, March 3, March 6 and March 7) but the latter did not mention of being physically assaulted.
“Based on all the facts we have so far, we find that the complaints made by the victim’s family cannot be proven.
“He had an opportunity to bring it up with the judge and hospital staff treating him but never mentioned any foul play,” Arifai was reported saying.
However, the senior cop came under fire from Opposition leaders and civil society movements who said that it was obvious that the deceased was too scared to reveal his predicament to the court as he would be at the mercy of the same officers who tortured him.
On a separate matter, former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador alleged that Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin was misusing the force to take down his political rivals.
The former top cop added that he had brought the matter to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s attention but to no avail.
The previous Pakatan Harapan Government tabled the IPCMC Bill for the first reading but it was scrapped after Perikatan Nasional took over Putrajaya. The latter then mooted the formation of the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC).
Touching on the matter, Arutchelvan was against the formation of IPCC, saying the agency is even more watered-down compared to the EAIC.
“The thing is, there is little incentive for our political leaders to establish an independent agency to probe the police.
“As per Hamid’s expose, the politicians misused the police to take down political rivals using arbitrary laws. In return, the politicians protect the force. So, there is a quid pro quo going on.
“If anyone is serious about reforming the police, we need the IPCMC as per recommended by the royal commission of inquiry back in 2005,” the PSM leader stressed. May 8, 2021.
