KUALA LUMPUR – Klang MP Charles Santiago is proposing that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) be part of the probe into a spate of recent custodial deaths involving men from the country’s Indian community, to ensure transparency.
Adding that their involvement would allow the public to perceive the investigations as transparent, Santiago said it could also result in better public confidence for the police force.
Santiago’s comments came after the Home Ministry’s statement assured that police would conduct an investigation into the deaths of A. Ganapathy and S. Sivabalan.
However, the Klang MP said that it was the police department’s legal duty to investigate deaths in custody in the first place.
“The police can investigate independently without a directive from the ministry.
“Under Section 329 and 334 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the law requires the police to investigate deaths in custody.
“There was also a directive from the chief justice a few years back stating an inquest must be conducted for any death in custody,” Santiago told The Vibes.
Cow’s milk vendor A. Ganapathy died while in custody at the Gombak police station on April 18.
Meanwhile, security guard S. Sivabalan died at the same station on May 20.
A week later, Surendran Shanker, 21, died in Kluang Hospital after being transferred to the Simpang Renggam prison. – The Vibes, May 29, 2021
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