These are some of the extremities several individuals, currently in detention under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), were alleged to have endured for criminal activities they were suspected of having committed.
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) in a press conference here today revealed the torment detainees were put through, many of which were relayed to the NGO through letters passed to their respective lawyers.
Farida Mohammad, a lawyer who is currently representing several Sosma detainees said according to the letters, some of the suspects were forced to narrate statements in line with what the police wanted.
In the course of obtaining what she described were false confessions, these detainees who were yet to be convicted of the charges brought against them, were allegedly forced to strip naked, watch pornographic movies and touch themselves.
Speaking of the trauma one detainee had to endure, Farida said, “He also said that the police had made him and other detainees kiss each other while they watched and laughed. This, he said, had embarrassed him to a great extent.”
Farida said that in one of the letters, the detainee alleged how he was at one point, forced to stay in a ‘half stand’ position while police took his statement.
If the statement differed from the theory the police had allegedly concocted, she revealed, he would be beaten up.
Copies of the letters which were provided to the media also saw another suspect alleging that while at the Bukit Aman police headquarters, he was forced to strip naked and “crawl like a dog” while picking up rubber bands on the floor, using his mouth.
“I was also forced to watch a pornographic video on the police’s handphone and masturbate in front of them. They also forced me to divorce my wife by pronouncing talak on her.
“They then threatened to separate my baby from my wife, deport her from the country and make her a prostitute in Cambodia,” read the handwritten letter.
Another letter claimed the accused was threatened that his pregnant wife as well as other family members would be arrested unless he gave his statement in accordance to what the police wanted.
Farida went to state that detainees were apparently told that if they confessed, the police would release them from the detention centre as soon as possible.
“This amounts to an inducement by threat or promise which should not have been admissible in court.”
Vice-youth chief of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin, who was also present at the press conference urged Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar to immediately investigate the allegations, saying the authorities should aim to do what they were appointed to do.
“This is not how police (officers) should act. They should protect the people instead of acting like the mafia, punishing those who haven’t even been found guilty of what they are accused of.”