KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — Minister of Digital Gobind Singh Deo said he will raise the “deeply disturbing” findings of a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) inquiry into Taiping Prison to the Cabinet next week, demanding full accountability from the nation’s top law enforcement and legal officials.

The Suhakam inquiry, which probed incidents occurring in January 2025, revealed a “harrowing picture of systemic failure” within the prison. The findings detailed excessive physical violence, the weaponisation of batons and pepper spray against handcuffed detainees, and the deliberate falsification of medical records.

The report concluded that these abuses, alongside severe medical negligence, directly contributed to the death of inmate Gan Chin Eng and caused injuries to over 100 other inmates.

In a statement today, Gobind, who is also the DAP national chairman, challenged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney-General (AG) to explain the lack of robust criminal action over the past year.

“The IGP must come forward with full transparency and state clearly how many police reports were lodged over the incident and state exactly what criminal action has been taken against those responsible,” Gobind said.

“This incident occurred in January 2025. It involved 100 inmates. Surely, apart from the inquiry carried out by Suhakam, action ought to have been taken against those responsible.”

Regarding the death of Gan, Gobind questioned the AG’s decision to prefer a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code against a prison officer.

Given Suhakam’s findings of “calculated, group-enforced physical violence on a restrained individual,” Gobind argued that the AG must clarify why a heavier charge was not pursued.

“Action in cases where there is abuse in custody must always reflect the abhorrence that the law takes when those empowered to detain abuse that power and where lives are lost as a result,” he added.

Call for systemic reform

Gobind said the case underscores the urgent need for comprehensive reforms in Malaysian detention centres, saying that prisons are not “above and beyond the law” and that the rank of the aggressors should not shield them from the full course of justice.

“Prisoners have rights too. Issues such as medical negligence and the falsification of medical records must be dealt with firmly,” Gobind said, adding that he will bring the matter to the Cabinet’s attention to ensure such incidents are never repeated.

The Suhakam report, released recently, has already prompted the commission to urge the government to take immediate disciplinary and legal action against the prison officers involved in the violence.