Sergeant shows inquest how lives are dehumanised and crushed in police lockups

by Theleaders-Online | January 22, 2020 1:44 am

The Sergeant meekly said he would help revive a neighbour who collapsed, but not a detainee. His meekness was a big stepdown after the showdown he had with Lawyer Visvanathan on Monday and Tuesday. The showdown even caused the Coroner to abruptly leave the courtroom.

The Sergeant said that he chose not to examine or to help revive Benedict Thanilas after he collapsed in cell LG01 in Jinjang lockup. He said he chose not to do so because he feared he might contact some contagious disease from Benedict – whom he knew had to take many medications.

The Sergeant was shown a CCTV recording in which Benedict was lying motionless on the floor of a cell, left hand stretched out. In the video, the Sergeant walked in and out of the cell three times, to “look” at Benedict.
The Sergeant, on one of his walk-ins, cigarette in mouth, hands on his hips, stood above Benedict – as demonstrated very vividly by M Visvanathan, the EDICT lawyer representing Benedict’s family – and “looked.” He didn’t demonstrate an ounce of human compassion.

The Sergeant, like all other policemen working in the lockup, had to view the Duty Roster regularly. It has the Standing Orders (rules) printed in it, to remind officers of the do’s and don’ts (rules) when on duty. Ignorance of the rules is no defence. But in this case, he can’t even plead ignorance.

Visvanathan directed the Sergeant to rule #6 which prohibits officers from having any tobacco. He asked the Sergeant to answer yes or no to the question whether cigarettes are prohibited. The Sergeant refused. The two locked horns. It was at this point that the Coroner walked out.

Visvanathan confronted the Sergeant over a point in the video when another detainee – in the room with Benedict sprawled on the floor – felt for Benedict’s pulse, then made the “crooked finger sign,” with the Sergeant in sight. Visvanathan asked the Sergeant what the sign meant.

The Sergeant said he didn’t know. Visvanathan said even a schoolkid knows it means “he’s dead.” Despite Visvanathan’s persistence – even pointing out that the other detainee and the Sergeant brushed past each other and very likely spoke – the Sergeant insisted he didn’t know.

The Sergeant, not having seen the video and perhaps unaware that it was to be shown, lied. He said he had helped carry Benedict out of his cell. The video revealed his lie. He then said detainees often need to be taken out for treatment (true!) and he had confused Benedict with another case.

The Sergeant, when pressed about why he didn’t do what the Police Act mandates at Section 20 (3j: giving assistance in the protection of life and property), said he had to look after his own health. Therefore, he didn’t assist in moving Benedict out of his cell, and didn’t touch Benedict.

The Sergeant adamantly insisted – in the face of the video evidence to the contrary – that he had seen movement in Benedict’s eyes and could hear his breathing, and so he believed Benedict was alive when taken to a car for transport to the hospital. Yet, he agreed he did not record these “signs” in the Station Diary, as required in the Standing Orders.

The Sergeant and his fellow police officers who eventually moved Benedict on a stretcher were careful to put on gloves before they touched Benedict. They lifted Benedict from the floor. One lifted him by the feet and another lifted him by the wrists, head unsupported. Certainly not a safe way to move a person.

The Sergeant, when shown a video in which he was smoking while waiting for the transport car, said it was okay to smoke in that area since it was a “garbage area.” Visvanathan said he would later question the Sergeant’s superior to verify the Sergeant’s answer.

Visvanathan summed up the Sergeant’s testimony very well when he said none of his testimony was true or believable. The analogy he used was apt: the Sergeant was adamantly trying to make a wet thread stand up. From the gallery, I couldn’t see the DPP’s face, but I’m sure she agreed.

There is one other thing I must tell you about the Sergeant. He was a Corporal during the tortured, avoidable death in custody of Benedict in Jinjang lockup on 10 July 2017 (a mere 12 days after he was arrested).
After 5 years and 10 months there as a Corporal, during which he clearly exhibited blatant disregard for rules and lives, Ariffin Ismail was moved to the Tourist Police Division in Putrajaya and promoted to Sergeant.

Visvanathan was constrained by court protocols. He couldn’t say what I know he believes. I’ll say it. The problem with the police is the same: trying to make a wet thread stand up. It just won’t work. Deep and broad reform is needed. Senior officers and politicians must act to fix the rot.

Yet, not one senior police officer or politician attends the hearings. They don’t seem to know, and they don’t see to care about the deep damage done to the reputation of the police by what’s revealed in inquests: our lockups are factories for dehumanizing both police and detainees.

Our lockups are filthy, unhealthy places. In just a few days, a detainee’s health deteriorates so much that no one working there wants to touch him – SOSMA allows people to be detained for 60 days in lockups. Our lockups tend to make policemen treat detainees like vermin, filthy rats.

Many policemen who work in lockups live double lives. They cannot speak about the horrors at their places of work to their families.[1] They live in fear of contracting dreadful diseases and transmitting the diseases to their families. They act “good” but know they’re not.

Will you help EDICT, Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together, to cleanse Malaysia of this scourge? Will you attend inquests with your friends and write/talk about what’s revealed there? Will you lobby the police and politicians to make changes? If you’re a judge, will you award sizable damages in civil suits involving deaths and abuse in custody?

Click this link [2]to get to EDICT’s Facebook Page; “like” it and stay informed.

Rama Ramanathan is an activist for Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online.

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