Was inquiry held into cop’s assault claim, asks lawyer
A policeman accused Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain of assaulting him in 2015. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has asked if a disciplinary inquiry or police investigation had been held in the case of the Penang police chief who was alleged to have roughed up a subordinate seven years ago.
This follows a disclosure that a lance corporal had lodged a report at a Perak police station in 2015 that he was berated by Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, who was then the Hilir Perak district police chief.
In a report published by whistleblower Twitter account Edisi Siasat, the policeman claimed that Shuhaily berated him and later hit him on the shoulder for failing to salute him as he drove past a sentry post.
Lawyer Sankara Nair said that under the 1967 Police Act, a disciplinary committee must be constituted to look into a police report. The committee must then decide if the accused was to be suspended or put on administrative duties pending completion of the inquiry.
“The disciplinary committee will then recommend punishment accordingly, upon conclusion of the inquiry,” Nair, a former senior police officer, told FMT.
He said the other question was whether the report by the policeman was investigated.
“Once a police report is made against a senior police officer, an investigation must be carried out without delay. Concurrently, a disciplinary inquiry ought to be held. Was this done then?” he asked.
He also said the report should have been investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, which carries a jail sentence or a fine upon conviction, adding that it was too late to take out a civil suit, as it was time-barred, with a three-year limitation of action.
Yesterday, two civic groups – Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict) and Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (Caged) – urged Shuhaily to respond to the claim by Edisi Siasat.
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has asked if a disciplinary inquiry or police investigation had been held in the case of the Penang police chief who was alleged to have roughed up a subordinate seven years ago.
This follows a disclosure that a lance corporal had lodged a report at a Perak police station in 2015 that he was berated by Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, who was then the Hilir Perak district police chief.
In a report published by whistleblower Twitter account Edisi Siasat, the policeman claimed that Shuhaily berated him and later hit him on the shoulder for failing to salute him as he drove past a sentry post.
Lawyer Sankara Nair said that under the 1967 Police Act, a disciplinary committee must be constituted to look into a police report. The committee must then decide if the accused was to be suspended or put on administrative duties pending completion of the inquiry.
“The disciplinary committee will then recommend punishment accordingly, upon conclusion of the inquiry,” Nair, a former senior police officer, told FMT.
He said the other question was whether the report by the policeman was investigated.
“Once a police report is made against a senior police officer, an investigation must be carried out without delay. Concurrently, a disciplinary inquiry ought to be held. Was this done then?” he asked.
He also said the report should have been investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, which carries a jail sentence or a fine upon conviction, adding that it was too late to take out a civil suit, as it was time-barred, with a three-year limitation of action.
Yesterday, two civic groups – Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict) and Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (Caged) – urged Shuhaily to respond to the claim by Edisi Siasat.
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