AN NGO, Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (EDICT), is calling out the Home Minister for what is believed to be a failure in ensuring that cops on the ground are protected from Covid-19.
It wants Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Hamid Bador to take immediate action to ensure that arrest and arraignment procedures minimise the spread of Covid-19.
This follows a FMT report yesterday that showed over three dozen arrestees in lockup attire handcuffed to one another and huddled together in a courtroom in Penang. Two-thirds of the arrestees were not wearing masks.
It says that it is simply unacceptable that those who are enforcing rules to mitigate infection are disobeying the rules themselves even in the name of duty.
Exposing cops, detainees, judges, court staff and lawyers to Covid-19 should be stopped immediately, EDICT demanded.
It has also expressed its disapproval of Minister of Housing and Local Government Zuraida Kamaruddin who was pictured attired in personal protective equipment supposedly disinfecting roads. – April 1, 2020
