KUALA LUMPUR – The Dewan Rakyat yesterday passed the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Bill 2020, which aims to improve integrity, reduce misconduct among police officers and increase public confidence in the security force.
The bill was approved after going through several amendments and improvements after being tabled for the first reading on August 26, 2020.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin when winding up the debate on the bill said that there were indeed cases of deaths in lockups, but it was not due to injuries caused by police, but rather illnesses faced by the detainees.
“I wish to inform you that there are (deaths in lockups) but it does not mean that it happened due to them (detainees) being beaten and so on,” he said.
According to Hamzah, among the diseases that the prisoners died from were asthma, HIV, heart disease, liver disease, ulcers and lung disease, while there were also cases of detainees hanging themselves and fighting in lockups.
Meanwhile, he said the bill focused on the establishment of a body to carry out investigations, while disciplinary actions and punishments would still be vested with the Police Force Commission, in accordance with the existing provisions in Article 140 of the federal constitution.
“This bill was drafted after comparisons were made with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (United Kingdom) and the Independent Police Complaints Council (Hong Kong).
“Both the independent bodies only exercise powers of investigation into wrongdoing, and the findings will be submitted to the relevant authorities for action,” he said.
Earlier during the debate on the bill, there was an uproar when some opposition MPs were not satisfied with the decision of deputy speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon, who was said not to have taken action against Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman for allegedly uttering obscene words in the House on July 20.
Rashid, when explaining the matter, said he had taken action against Tajuddin by ordering him to leave the hall on the day of the incident.
“I have checked, that I did give a warning and in the Hansard it is mentioned that I said ‘Pasir Salak (Tajuddin), please leave’. Regarding the obscene words (uttered), I looked for them in the Hansard and there were none. I ordered Tajuddin to leave, I didn’t say how many days but according to Rule 44(2), Pasir Salak automatically got two days (of suspension),” he said.
The commotion caused Kasthuriraani Patto (Batu Kawan-PH) to be ordered out of the hall and suspended for two days when she continued to raise the issue and disobeyed the deputy speaker’s order to sit down, besides engaging in a heated argument with Tajuddin, which disrupted the debate session.
The sitting continues today. – Bernama, July 27, 2022
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