KUALA LUMPUR – Police have denied the alleged mistreatment of youth activist Sarah Irdina Arif during her detention in a Kuala Lumpur lockup on Thursday.
In a statement yesterday, Sentul district police chief Beh Eng Lai said the process of detaining the 20-year-old was to procedures.
“Before being placed in lockup, every detainee will be brought to a special room to be inspected by a lockup official (in this case, a female officer) to ensure there are no physical injuries or contraband brought into the lockup,” he said.
“Subsequently, she (Sarah Irdina) changed into a purple lockup uniform. The process of changing clothes was done in a special room where she cannot be seen by others.”
Beh was referring to an online article that claimed that Sarah was “forced to strip” and “remove her undergarments” during detention, among other claims of mistreatment.
He said Sarah Irdina was detained at the Jinjang police station on July 29 at about 7pm for allegedly violating Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 in relation to running the Misi: Solidariti Twitter account.
He said throughout her detention, the police had fully complied with standard operating procedures, while her cell was only occupied with female detainees and supervised by female officers.
“Male officers and detainees are not allowed to enter or pass by the area.”
He added that she was released from the lockup the following day at 12.30am on July 30.
“The public is advised against spreading any unverified information that could raise confusion,” he said. – The Vibes, August 2, 2021
