Two Badly Beaten Detainees in Kelantan Highlight Need For Investigation on Police Misconduct

By Jasmine Qistina  •  19 Nov 2021 in News

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Two detainees have been badly beaten whilst under police custody in Kelantan this month so far, reports human rights NGO Eliminating Deaths and Abuse In Custody Together (EDICT).

One of the detainees that were beaten had died from the injuries on 16th November at the Kota Baru, Kelantan police district’s lockup. 

On 12th November EDICT took to Twitter to address the beatings of a detainee named Syafriezan. He was badly beaten and not given treatment whilst being detained at the Bachok police district headquarters in Kelantan. The NGO also said he was denied contact with his family by police.  

Seorang tahanan di Bachok,Kelantan dipukul teruk & kini masih berada dlm tahanan polis di IPD Bachok. Pegawai penyiasat yg dihubungi tidak mahu berikan kerjasama tentang keberadaan tahanan. Mata mangsa telah membengkak & mangsa mengadu kabur penglihatan namun tiada rawatan diberi pic.twitter.com/Glwqcv1uXI

— EDICT (@EDICTMALAYSIA) November 12, 2021

Only four days after that tweet, EDICT reports a death in custody in Kelantan “following extreme measures taken by police.” 

According to their blog statement today, the NGO had “failed to get full cooperation from police when trying to obtain more information on the case.”

EDICT went on to further say that the government should “accelerate the implementation of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), instead of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), so that cases involving misuse of power by police can be investigated independently and fairly by a non-partisan body.”

The NGO notes an increase in police brutality in Kelantan and expresses their extreme disappointment in the ongoing cases of custodial deaths and abuse that occurs. 

EDICT hopes that the Kelantan police force will take these cases seriously, fairly and provide equitable action in addressing the culture of beating detainees.