KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Eliminating Deaths & Abuse In Custody Together (EDICT) today responded to the attorney-general’s statement regarding the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO) and prosecution of alleged violations, suggesting that the police be asked not to apply to remand or detain individuals for suspected MCO breaches.
EDICT was responding to Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun’s April 27 statement, in which he answered EDICT’s comments on the handling of cases involving MCO offenders.
EDICT wrote on April 4 an open letter to Idrus, which it referenced in a subsequent statement on April 9.
“First, we note that the AG has responded to our 9 April statement, not to our open letter to him on 4 April, which we referenced in our 9 April statement. In our open letter, we asked him to address six specific concerns. His statement does not address those concerns,” EDICT claimed in its statement today.
In the open letter on April 4, EDICT had urged the attorney-general to ensure the law under MCO was applied proportionately and equally, and had asked him to make six directives.
EDICT had urged the attorney-general to direct the police to ensure social distancing by avoiding marshalling individuals to police stations for filing of charges and to courts for prosecution, to direct the police and prosecutors to continue prosecuting those who flagrantly abuse enforcement officers, to direct the police to investigate and file charges against enforcement officers who take actions amounting to humiliation or punishment.
EDICT had also urged the attorney-general direct the police to treat all individuals who are charged in the same way and not to handcuff or chain any accused person who is cooperative when brought to court, to direct the police and prosecutors to postpone the prosecution of alleged MCO violators as lockups and prisons are already crowded, and to direct prosecutors not to press for maximum penalties of first-time offenders.
About remands
In the statement today, EDICT acknowledged the attorney-general’s explanation that remand applications and sentencing were not under his purview but the concern of the police and the courts, respectively.
However, it insisted that the attorney-general could still advise the police not to seek remand for MCO violations.
“Since the Investigation Papers come to the AGC for prosecutions, we think it only reasonable to expect — 40 days into the MCO — that the AG will issue directives or guidelines to the police not to apply for remand in such cases.
“This is especially warranted as support for the social distancing policies which the authorities have identified as critical for curbing the pandemic. It is also public knowledge that, even in normal times, detainees are not subjected to medical examinations prior to incarceration in lockups,” it said, further questioning why some suspected MCO offenders were remanded while others were not.
Among other things, the Malaysian judiciary’s website explained that a suspect can only be detained for police investigations for a maximum of 24 hours, and that the police would have to apply to the court for remand or to further detain the suspect beyond 24 hours if the police investigation cannot be completed within that period, with the purpose of remand being to enable more time for the police to complete investigations and for determination of whether there is enough evidence to charge a suspect for a suspected offence.
Previously, the attorney-general had on April 27 rebutted EDICT’s remarks, saying that guidelines and directives are regularly issued to deputy public prosecutors on the handling of cases during the MCO, and that it was an error to assume that there were no such guidelines or directives just because these were not sighted.
The attorney-general had cited an example of its guidelines where deputy public prosecutors were reminded recently to be sensitive to cases involving juveniles or children, to ensure they are not remanded except in the most unavoidable situation and to ensure they are treated according to the Child Act in a Court for Children.
Noting that DPPs are governed by a code of ethics, the attorney-general had also said MCO court cases are monitored daily by the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ prosecution division and that DPPs are also required to send a report on such cases daily to the attorney-general.
Today, EDICT claimed that prosecutors, the police, the courts and defence lawyers are being unnecessarily exposed to infection risks due to the pressing for court appearances and jail sentences when other options are available.
In response to the attorney-general who had said it welcomes constructive criticisms instead of criticism not backed by facts, EDICT insisted that it always aims to be constructive and denied that its statement had any elements of conjecture, diatribe or lack grounding in facts.
