©Malay Mail (Used by permission)
by AIZYL AZLEE
HULU LANGAT, May 24 ― The Attorney–General’s Chambers (AGC) is currently studying the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission’s (EAIC) report on N. Dharmendran’s custodial death and is considering preparing fresh charges in the case, according to the oversight agency’s chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam.
Yaacob said he has received letters from the AGC and the Federal Court’s Chief Registrar’s office, both acknowledging the EAIC’s findings in the matter.
“We have received feedback from the Chief Registrar's office of the Federal Court pertaining to the coroner’s rules in inspecting or examining the bodies of the dead person in lockups, to update the provisions on inspection or examinations from coroners.
“We have also received feedback from the Attorney–General's Chambers. They are traversing the report on Dharmendran and also the notes of proceedings submitted by us.
“I think that's a positive note from the AGC. They are considering of criminal charges to be filed,” he told reporters here between a dialogue session between EAIC and the enforcement agencies of the peninsula's central zone.
The EAIC report released on April 28 had concluded that Dharmendran was tortured, with his ears stapled, and beaten to death by the police in 2013 when the 32–year–old man was detained at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
The body, which oversees the police force and other enforcement agencies, also recommended charges against six police officers for allegedly falsifying and tampering with evidence, three of whom are among the four charged with the murder of Dharmendran.
“Tampering with official documents or giving false information to a public authority, that is considered a criminal act. It is giving false information to a civil servant to act upon your information,” he said.
Dharmendran died in custody last May while he had been detained for attempted murder.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court initially acquitted the four police officers charged with the murder of Dharmendran, but the Court of Appeal later ordered the four men to enter their defence today.
Dharmendran’s death was one of the three deaths in custody in less than two weeks in May last year, prompting calls for the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.
Since the release of the EAIC report, Dharmendran’s wife Marry Susay has filed a civil suit against the Malaysian government, the Inspector–General of Police and several police officers over the “unlawful death” of her husband and seeking damages as her husband had been sole breadwinner of the family.