DAP’s Lim Lip Eng today pressed the police force to disclose the identity of the fourth suspect, a policeman, in the murder case of N. Dhamendran who died last month in custody.
The Segambut MP urged the police to display the name and face of the suspect, who is believed to hold the rank of Inspector, in newspapers and other media, as well as police stations nationwide.
“Another suspect in the Dhamendran case is still at large and cannot be found.
“I made a police report today to urge the authorities to place the photograph and name of the suspect in all newspapers, besides displaying it at all the police stations all over the country,” Lim said in a press conference after lodging the police report at the Jinjang Utara police station here.
According to Lim, his demand was not hard to carry out as the police always did the same when hunting for criminals. He added that a failure to do so would be proof that the police are not conducting their investigations fairly.
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“If (they) fail to do so, it means that the police is not transparent and fair in investigations,” he added.
Last Wednesday, three of the four police officers who allegedly caused Dhamendran’s death were charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code. A fourth accused is still at large. The police have since launched a hunt for him.
A government hospital autopsy report had revealed that 32-year-old detainee Dhamendran had died on May 21 as a result of multiple beatings while in police custody at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters.
According to Suaram, there were over 220 cases of alleged deaths in custody in Malaysia from 2000 to May, with its records showing that nine of those cases occurred in 2012 while nine cases took place this year.
A United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 2010 visit to Malaysian prisons and detention centres reported in 2011 that between 2003 and 2007, “over 1,500 people died while being held by authorities.”
The Home Ministry reportedly told Parliament last October that 298 people were shot dead by the police between 2007 and August 2012, including 151 Indonesians and 134 Malaysians ― an average of one fatal shooting a week.
The Malaysian Bar, civil society groups and several politicians from both sides of the divide have called for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be implemented to reform the police force since 2006.
