KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission’s (EAIC) report that found the police culpable for N. Dharmendran’s death in custody is considered hearsay and not admissible in the trial of four policemen accused of his murder, according to legal experts.

After presenting the report yesterday, EAIC chairman Datuk Yaacob MD Sam told a press conference that it could possibly be used as evidence in the murder trial because all of the testimonies were done under oath.

Criminal lawyers contacted by Malay Mail Online disagreed, but said the prosecution could instead call up the relevant witnesses from the EAIC inquiry to testify directly in the trial.

“In court, witnesses in a criminal trial are subjected to a different level of scrutiny and evaluation,” Joshua Tay told Malay Mail Online.

“(The prosecution) would still need to call the relevant witnesses to prove the commission of the offence by the accused persons,” he added.

The EAIC report released yesterday concluded that Dharmendran was tortured, with his ears stapled, and beaten to death by the police in 2013 when the 31-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.

Like Tay, lawyer Fahri Azzat said the prosecution in the murder trial cannot rely on the report’s conclusions to substantiate its case against the four policemen.

“They cannot prove another fact-finding body has made it. The fact of their (the four policemen’s) guilt has to be proved in court,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Lawyer Eric Paulsen said the EAIC report could not be considered “conclusive” and it was up to the prosecutor to call relevant police officers to testify in court.

“The person with knowledge that has evidence on a particular fact that they want to prove — that person would need to come and testify,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Dharmendran, 31, died in custody while under investigation for attempted murder on May 21, 2013.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court initially acquitted the four police officers — Inspector S. Hare Krishnan, 42; Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 46; Corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 47; and Corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 34 —  charged with his murder, but the Court of Appeal later ordered the four men to enter their defence on May 24.