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KUALA LUMPUR, Mon (3.30 p.m.) : Members of the Commission of Inquiry into the infamous ear-squat today did an on-site visit at about 2.45 p.m. to the lock-up room at the Petaling Jaya Police Station where the incident took place in June this year. (Click here to download the infamous video clip.)

The Bar Council representatives, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Edmund Bon and Will Fung were allowed access to view the room.

The room is a small room and contained steel lockers and wooden cupboards. The distance from the window from which the video was taken to the door is approximately 10 feet. The height from the floor to the window inside the room is approximately 4 feet 10 inches.

We all also viewed the window from the outside. The height from the ground to the window outside is approximately 5 feet 7 inches. We were informed that the window has been repainted approximately 2 months ago.

The inspection ended at 3.30 p.m. and the inquiry will resume at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Earlier, the Commission commenced its inquiry at 10.00 a.m. this morning at the former Federal Court house. (Click here to download the unofficial notes of proceedings prepared by Foo Yueh Jiin.)

DPP Suhaimi Ibrahim is assisting in the inquiry whilst Edmund Bon was accorded formal observer status for and on behalf of the Malaysian Bar and the Bar Council.

The first witness Corporal Zainul Nur Rashid gave evidence in relation to photographs he had taken of the location where the ear squat incident had taken place.

The second witness PJ OCPD ACP Hazam Abdul Halim gave evidence in relation to the incident. He was in charge of the lock-up at the material time. He gave evidence of the Lock-up Rules and other standing orders or instructions as well as the standard operating procedures when a person is arrested.

When questioned by Commissioner Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, the witness conceded that strip searches were routinely carried out on all female detainees. He also agreed with Zaman that ear squats are not provided for anywhere in the Lock-Up Rules or standing orders. They were done pursuant to oral instructions given. Hazam added that to his knowledge, the practice of getting detainees to strip and ear squat had been there since he joined the police force in 1985.

The video clip was then played for the Commissioners (not the public). Then, to a question from Zaman again as to the procedure relating to the presence of a doctor provided for under the Lock-Up Rules, the witness answered that they do not ask for a medical doctor unless there has been a death. He confirmed that Rule 10 of the Lock-Up Rules has not been followed.

Commissioner Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek asked how the witness could know whether an officer comply with the orders or the Lock-Up Rules since the detainee and the officer are alone in the room. The witness agreed that there was no way to check this.

Then lawyer Sankaran Nair, counsel for the four Chinese nationals were permitted to ask the following questions through the Commission:

1. Are there any specific directions as to the number of times ear squats should be done? ACP Hazam's answer was that there are no specific directions and it is not too many times.

2. Are the strip searches recorded anywhere, for example, in the lock-up diary? The answer was in the negative.

The third witness was Chief Inspector Abdul Aziz bin Abd Rahman, Ketua Polis Balai Petaling Jaya. He gave evidence relating to the standard procedure upon the arrest of a person. He justified that the procedure in relation to a woman detainee is that she is taken to a room by a female officer and is asked to remove her clothes. A physical examination is done without touching the detainee. These are all oral instructions to the officer. They are then made to do ear-squats, and not more than 10 times.

Asking detainees to do ear-squats a "police tradition"?

When asked by the Chairman Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah why they are asked to do this. The witness answered this "was the tradition". It was done to remove items that they are suspected to have hidden in parts of their bodies. All women are made to do the ear-squat.

Commissioner Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim asked whether a person who is arrested, for example, for possession of a false passport is also made to do ear-squat. The witness hesitated and could not answer the specific question but he did say the emphasis was on drug offences and other serious crimes.

Policewoman and officer who took the video clip identified

The witness was then asked to view the video clip and to identify the person in it. He could identify the policewoman who was present in the court room but not the detainee. The policewoman is Lance Corporal Wan Zawati Wan Ismail.

He also stated that the video clip was taken through the ventilation window of the lock-up. He said he was informed by one Lance Corporal Suhaimi that it was Police Constable Zulfatah who took the video clip. Lance Corporal Suhaimi told the witness that he was shown the video clip by Zul Fatah at the end of June 2005. It was noted that ACP Hazam and Chief Inspector Abdul Aziz only knew about the video clip on November 23 and viewed it on November 24.

Full notes of proceedings will be made available on this website later.

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