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Nobuhiro’s death marks the fourth death in custody so far since N Dhamendran’s murder at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters lockup last month, bringing this year’s custodial death toll to nine in under six months.

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The Stop State Violence Movement (SSVM), an umbrella body comprising 29 rights groups, ……..also labelled Subang Jaya police stations as the “killing ground” for suspected criminals, noting that in the USJ 8 lock-up alone two deaths have already occurred this year.

Apart from Matsushita, detainee Chan Chin Te died in the same lock-up on January 14.

On January 20, 2009, A. Kugan died in the Taipan police station, also in Subang Jaya.

Apart from Subang Jaya, SSVM also singled out the Dang Wangi police station as another location where many suspects breathed their last.

Listing them out, the movement said detainees P. Chandran, Wong Tip Ping and Nagarajan died in Dang Wangi on September 10, November 29 and December 24 respectively.

Stop ruling out foul play in lock-up deaths, rights groups tell cops

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Malaysian Insider

Stop ruling out foul play in lock-up deaths, rights groups tell cops

BY CLARA CHOOI
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
June 10, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Several civil rights groups today demanded that the police stop prematurely ruling out foul play in custodial death cases, reminding the force that it is required by law to hold an inquiry to investigate such incidents.

The Stop State Violence Movement (SSVM), an umbrella body comprising 29 rights groups, pointed out in a statement here that in the case of 32-year-old N. Dharmendran, the police had at first claimed the detainee died of “breathing difficulties”.

But the claim turned out to be false later after a post-mortem showed that the man died after he was badly beaten up by the police while in the lock-up.

“The Stop State Violence Movement would like to remind the police force not to speculate any information to the public as this could be misleading,” the movement said.

It was responding to the latest lock-up death of Nobuhiro Matsushita, a 33-year-old Japanese man who was found hanged in his cell at the USJ 8 police lock-up in Subang Jaya at 4am on Saturday.

In an immediate response, Selangor deputy police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan appeared to rule out foul play, saying that an initial probe turned up no evidence of this.

“An autopsy report issued by the University Malaya Medical Centre found that the suspect died as a result of hanging and that there were no injuries on his body,” he was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.

But SSVM noted that KL CID chief SAC Datuk Ku Chin Wah had made a similar claim when Dharmendran was found dead recently.

Since then, however, three policemen have been charged in court with murdering the 32-year-old.

Stop ruling out foul play in lock-up deaths, rights groups tell cops

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Malaysiakini

The death of a Japanese national in police custody has raised the profile of calls for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) into an international one, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

He said Nobuhiro Matsushita’s death has “tarnished Malaysia’s international reputation and smeared the image” in particular of the police force, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“Whilst some of the custodial deaths may be due to natural causes, the public will continue to have grave suspicions in police interrogation methods unless the police can assure the public that they are not only clean, but are seen to be clean…

“Only a transparent and accountable mechanism, which is available by establishing the IPCMC, can restore public confidence and reassure the public that detainees in police custody will be safe.

“Otherwise, the public will have recurring nightmares that should any of their loved ones be placed in police custody, they may not walk out alive,” he said in a statement today.

Nobuhiro was reportedly found dead yesterday at the USJ8 police station lockup, Subang Jaya, from hanging himself with his shirt on the grille bar of his cell.

University Malaya Medical Centre’s autopsy report concluded he died of hanging with no other signs of injury.

Japanese death gives IPCMC international relevance

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Malaysian Insider

Japanese detainee found dead in USJ8 lockup

June 08, 2013

PETALING JAYA, June 8 — A Japanese man who was arrested for brandishing a knife at auxiliary police after trespassing into a university near here on June 2, was found hanged at the grille of his lock up cell at the USJ 8 police station, Subang Jaya, early this morning.

Selangor deputy police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan said Nobuhiro Matsushita, 33, was found dead at 4am and was believed to have hanged himself on the grille bar by using his own shirt.

“An autopsy report issued by the University Malaya Medical Centre found that the suspect died as a result of hanging and that there were no injuries on his body.

“Initial police investigations also confirmed that no foul play resulted in his death,” he told a press conference here today.

He said an inspection by a lock-up policeman an hour before had found that all detainees, including the man, were in good condition.

Thaiveegan said the suspect, who was arrested on June 2 after making criminal threats to the auxiliary police personnel who wanted to arrest him for intruding into a store at the university, initially was placed in a cell with other detainees before been segregated for intrusiveness on the other detainees.

Japanese detainee found dead in USJ8 lockup

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Engineer P. Karuna Nithi, 3rd Indian man to die in custody in 11 days!

DEATH IN CUSTODY: A STREET PROTEST BY NGOs?

Violence and Death at the Hands of the Police

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