S4S lodges misconduct complaint against Serian police chief
The pro-autonomy group accuses DSP Chung Aik Peng of overstepping his role as Serian district police chief in detaining three persons without reason and for arbitrary harassment during the July 22 Sarawak Day celebrations.
KUCHING: Autonomy advocacy group Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) lodged a complaint to the Sarawak Commissioner of Police Mazlan Mansor against the Serian district police chief for alleged misconduct during the Sarawak Day celebrations the group held on July 22.
Serian District Police Chief DSP Chung Aik Peng had led a 100-strong police team that cordoned off S4S participants from using a community park in Serian, a town 60km from Kuching.
The S4S event was dispersed late in the morning, three hours after it began. No clashes were reported.
S4S’s complaint also included the detention of three persons, whom the group said were prevented from participating in the event, and who were held in a police lock-up for four hours.
The group said the individuals were picked out by the police for carrying the old flag of Sarawak and for wearing T-shirts bearing them.
“We are not going on revenge here. We are calling on the Commissioner of Police to take appropriate action to investigate one of his senior officers in view of the charges we are now bringing against him,” said Dominic Ng, a lawyer representing the three individuals.
Ng, a former state assemblyman of Padungan, described police action under Chung as “unwarranted” and said the detentions had “elements of illegality”.
“If based on the previous year’s activities, there are absolutely no grounds for the police to be alarmed.
“I can only say, perhaps it all came down to one senior police officer’s actions and personal feelings getting in the way of his professional duties.
“No doubt his duty is to keep the peace in Serian. But at no juncture, as far as we know, was the peace under threat,” said Ng.
S4S said police had stopped Kuching cyclists from entering Serian as well as cordoned off main roads leading into the community park. A dozen police officers in riot gear were also deployed.
S4S also complained of man-handling by Chung of members of the public who were filming the event. It also alleged that he tried to prevent some local business owners from participating in the event.
Group spokesperson Karen Sheperd said Chung’s actions had harmed the relationship between the local community and the police.
“The district police chief went well beyond his remit, deploying riot police against ordinary citizens at a public function.
“He also verbally harassed a wide cross-section of the public and even went so far as to detain three upstanding citizens for flying flags and wearing T-shirts for several hours.
“When a policeman is using fear tactics against ordinary citizens, going about their daily business with no ill intentions, then he has gone too far.”
Peter John Jaban, a S4S leader, said the group had begun issuing “Red Book” booklets, which detail police powers in case anyone is stopped and arrested.
“Part of the problem is that many Sarawakians do not know their rights, especially those in the rural areas.
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“An unscrupulous policeman can take advantage of this to victimise the public when it should be his duty to inform them of their rights,” Peter said.