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CAN THE POLICE QUESTION YOUR UNDER-AGED CHILDREN WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR PRESENCE?
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SK Seri Pristana: Shower room as canteen!
July 23, 2013
https://www.facebook.com/mohdnorskseripristana
Kami Sokong Mohamad Nasir Mohd Nor Ditahan dan Didakwa 立刻逮捕和提控莫哈末纳西尔
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5 October 2013
Gunasekaran is seeking legal advice over the matter, particularly from Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights coordinator Edmund Bon.
Malaysiakini
The child’s mother, Yogeswary Erusan, said that during the Sept 27 incident she was not allowed to be in the room where her son was being quizzed as well as threatened by the police officer over a complaint lodged against a teacher.
“I was not in the room at the police station. I was told to wait outside while my son was questioned,” she told Malaysiakini.
According to her son, he was asked whether Yogeswary’s police report against his teacher was true, to which he responded in the affirmative.
He was also asked about his past disciplinary problems and subsequently threatened with arrest if his claims were found to be untrue.
Malaysiakini is withholding the names of the parties involved pending their comments.
“We don’t know if this (the threat) is serious or if they are just trying to frighten the child,” said Malaysian Tamilan Today secretary K Gunasekaran, who is helping Yogeswary with her predicament.
Another case of a pupil quizzed by cops
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Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had said that the consent of parents was unnecessary if police wished to question their children.
Khalid said this in relation to last week’s disclosure that Sungai Buloh police had admitted interviewing pupils from the Seri Pristana primary school in connection with the “shower room canteen’ controversy.
SK Seri Pristana, soon to be an ALL MALAY school?
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Free Malaysia Today
Rohani can’t see the wood for the trees, says Seputeh MP
It is ironic that Malaysia is party to the Convention of Rights of Children, yet the minister endorsed the police’s quizzing of children without their parents or guardians, says Teresa Kok.
PETALING JAYA: Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim failed to see the wood for the trees when she endorsed the police’s interrogation of SK Pristana students without the presence of their parents.
DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok criticised Rohani for defending the police despite Malaysia having adopted the Convention of Rights of Children and enacted the Child Act 2001.
“What is the purpose of being a state party to the Convention of Rights of Children ( CRC) if the government is not going to its utmost to respect the CRC’s core principles?
“I find it baffling when she said: ‘So far, we don’t have clear facts under what law the investigation was conducted but it was definitely not under the Child Act’.
“Rohani should have done right and stressed that irrespective of whether the child is investigated under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) or Child Act, their interest should be safeguard.
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Kok pointed out that even the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia has expressed its concern over the police’s action.
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Kok said given that the incident happened almost two months ago, it is baffling to heard Rohani saying that she is still in dark over which law was cited for the police’s investigations.
“Why did not she send her officials to meet the parents and children to hear them out and to provide the necessary counseling and support?’ she asked.
Rohani can’t see the wood for the trees, says Seputeh MP
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Malaysian Insider
Minister says cops can interrogate children without parents’ consent or presence
Police have the power to interrogate children without the permission or presence or their parents or guardian in cases involving the Criminal Procedure Code, says Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.
However, she said, in cases investigated under the Child Act 2001 through the Sexual, Abuse and Child Investigation Department (D11), the child should be interrogated in the presence of the welfare officer, parents or guardian.
“My ministry works closely with D11 in closely monitoring the welfare of these children. The officers from this division have been specially trained to handle such cases.
“The public should not be unduly worried as whatever case investigated, whether involving the Criminal Procedure Code or Child Act, we at the ministry will ensure that the children’s welfare is safeguarded,” she told reporters after visiting the Malacca Urban Transformation Centre today.
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Malaysiakini
Civil rights lawyer Edmund Bon’s suggestion that parents should sue the police for questioning their children at SK Seri Pristana without their knowledge has fazed Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.
Police questioning primary school children without the knowledge of their parents should not be made an issue and threats of lawsuits are unreasonable given that the investigations are going, on today’s issue of Utusan Malaysia quotes Khalid as saying.
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“However, in some cases, we can question children without first informing the parents.”
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“I have never heard a child crying in their sleep or having bad dreams after being interviewed by police. We know how to interview children, we have kids too,” said Khalid.
Malaysian Insider
“We use common sense” when interviewing Seri Pristana pupils, says IGP
“We know how to interview children, we have kids too,” was the Inspector-General of Police’s response to criticisms of their interviewing primary school children of SK Seri Pristana.
Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said police knew how to carry out their duties.
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Khalid dismissed the threat of civil suits against the police for merely carrying out their duties.
“They threatened to sue us for carrying out our duties. If they want to sue, let them sue,” said Khalid at a launch event in Bukit Aman today.
He said that the policemen who interviewed the pupils were also parents and they used their common sense when questioning the pupils.
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Malaysian Insider
‘Do the right thing’ when questioning minors, Bar Council tells cops
Questioning a child in a police investigation is not a “mechanical exercise” but requires tact and the knowledge that the minor understands the reason for the interview, said the Bar Council.
Stepping into the SK Seri Pristana issue where police had questioned several pupils, Bar Council chairman Christopher Leong pointed out that although there was nothing in the law to suggest that police cannot question a minor, police still had an obligation to “do the right thing”.
And that, said Leong, was the obligation to inform the parents or guardian and ensure that they are present during the interview session.
He pointed out that the Criminal Procedure Code allowed a person questioned by police the right to refuse to answer questions that may incriminate him.
“Police must inform an adult of this right and this also applies to children,” Leong said in a statement.
“This legal duty imposed on the police is not a mere mechanical exercise,” he added.
‘Do the right thing’ when questioning minors, Bar Council tells cops
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Free Malaysia Today
‘Police violated the spirit of Child Act’
Suhakam also denounced the SK Seri Pristana management for not putting the students well-being first by allowing the police to interview the children without parents’ consent.
PETALING JAYA: The police had violated the spirit of Child Act 2001 by conducting interviews with students from SK Seri Pristana without the consent of their parents, said Suhakam.
“While legislation is silent about the presence of parents or guardian when the police interview children, the authorities have violated the spirit of the law where it says that a child’s rights must be protected at all times.
“It is equally disappointing that the school had failed to place their students well-being first in the said incident,” said Suhakam acting chairman Khaw Lake Tee, in a statement.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/09/07/police-violated-the-spirit-of-child-act/
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Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights coordinator Edmund Bon said any police officer who questions a child without the consent of the parents, as happened to several students of SK Seri Pristana, have breached Section 113 of the Child Act 2001.
The Sundaily
Parental consent required, says lawyer
Posted on 6 September 2013 – 09:12am
PETALING JAYA (Sept 5, 2013): Parents … if your children have been questioned by police without your consent or without you being present, sue them.
Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights coordinator Edmund Bon said parents should do so for the arbitrary and unlawful interference in the lives and privacy of their children.
“They should also sue (to claim) damages for emotional distress to the children,” he said.
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Bon said the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) could not be applied in this instance as the Child Act specifically governs those who are under 18 years of age.
“Where there is a specific law, the general law, in this case the CPC, cannot be used,” he said. However, Bon added that the Child Act is silent on the powers of the police when taking a written or oral statement from a child.
Similar views were shared by Lawyers for Liberty co-founder Eric Paulsen, who felt that while Khalid was technically correct in his interpretation of the law, a responsible police force would inform parents before questioning their children.
“Children must be treated fairly as witnesses. They are not suspects. We have to look into the best interests of the child and we must protect children from unnecessary questioning and abuses of power,” he said.
DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has urged the police to stop following a strict interpretation of the law in their conduct and instead start using common sense.
She was referring to the inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar’s (IGP) statement recently that there is nothing wrong with the police questioning school children from SK Seri Pristana without the parents’ consent.
“The IGP must retract his statement as he has put fear in every parent and has given the licence to his men to harass children.”
Malaysian Insider
IGP slammed for “ridiculous and arrogant” statement on questioning of children
The statement by the Inspector-General of Police that police do not need the consent of parents before questioning their children was described as “ridiculous and arrogant” by lawyers and child activists.
Human rights lawyer N. Surendran said Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s response to the outcry after police had questioned pupils of SK Seri Pristana would also create panic among parents.
“Parents will now fear that their children can be hauled up any time by the police,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
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Surendran pointed out that under the Criminal Procedure Code every individual who is questioned by police has right to legal representation.
“For a child, all legal decisions are made by the parents or guardian. That is why if the police need to question a child, the parents must be present.
“A child would not understand the legal implications or sometimes the question itself.”
Another lawyer, Fahri Azzat, said the law aside, police should not behave in such an inappropriate manner.
“If you interview a minor, they should ask the parents or at least notify them and allow them to be present. That is common sense,” he said.
Fahri said for Khalid to say that parents need not be notified was “not quite right”.
IGP slammed for “ridiculous and arrogant” statement on questioning of children
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Malaysian Insider
There is no need to obtain the consent of parents or to ensure their presence when questioning their children, said the Inspector-General of Police in reference to the incident at SK Seri Pristana where police had quizzed several primary school pupils over the eating in the shower room controversy.
“Why can’t we? There’s nothing in the law that says we need to get their (parents) consent,” said IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
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The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) also noted that there was nothing wrong with police questioning the pupils as “police just wanted to know the truth”.
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WHY CAN’T EVEN THE POLICE BE TRUSTED TO BE TRUTHFUL?
Yesterday, there was outright denial. NO WE DIDN’T TALK TO THEM AT ALL.
Today, it is not better, just an evasive answer.
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Yesterday, the police denied questioning the children. Sungai Buloh district police chief Junaidi Bujang had said that “no instructions” were given to question the children.
“There is no such thing. There was never any instruction on my part. I did not ask any officer to do so. In any case, what would the children know?” he had told Malaysiakini when asked if police had questioned the children.
Today, Sungai Buloh district police chief Junaidi Bujang says that they were just having a chat with the children. “We cannot just listen to the teachers. Even the parents got the information from their children. But we did not interrogate the children. We were just talking,” he said.
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For the full story, read
Malaysian Insider
Cops admit “interviewing” Seri Pristana pupils, but deny it was interrogation
Police have changed their story and have now admitted that they “questioned” several pupils of SK Seri Pristana following the eating in the shower-room incident.
Sungai Buloh district police chief Superintendent Junaidi Bujang said the children “were questioned on an interview basis”.
“They were not interrogated,” he said, denying reports that police officers had interrupted lessons or harassed and intimidated the pupils.
“We were given permission by the headmaster before entering the school. They gave us 30 minutes to interview the pupils.”
The interview session with about six pupils was held in a classroom which was allocated by the headmaster.
“The children are innocent in this issue. Why would we want to intimidate or harass them?” Junaidi asked.
In earlier reports, Junaidi had denied that police had questioned the pupils.
When asked about his earlier denials, Junaidi said, “the reports painted a picture that police had harassed or intimidated the children. That was what I denied”.
Cops admit “interviewing” Seri Pristana pupils, but deny it was interrogation
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Malaysiakini
The police now have admitted to questioning the pupils of SK Seri Pristana, but said they were not taking official statements from them nor were the children harassed.
Sungai Buloh district police chief Junaidi Bujang said they were “just talking to the students” to ask them more about the shower room used as a makeshift canteen.
“There were six children in the photograph (uploaded by a parent), so we wanted to find out who the children were, whether the photograph was taken during Ramadan, when they started eating there etc.
OCPD: Yes, we quizzed kids but didn’t harass them
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At a joint press conference with other parents, non-governmental organisations and Subang MP R Sivarasa today, a father says that his daughter was questioned TWICE..
Malaysiakini
A parent whose child goes to SK Seri Pristana has refuted Sungai Buloh OCPD Junaidi Bujang’s denial that police did not interrogate pupils while at school over the makeshift shower room canteen case.
The marketing executive, who only wished to be known as Raj, 39, claimed his 9-year-old daughter was questioned by police officers twice within the school compound, between July and August.
“She (his daughter) was so scared after being questioned by the police and she cried, not wanting to go to school anymore.
“The OCPD is telling a big lie,” the father alleged, adding that 10 parents also complained that their children were “harassed” by police.
“How can they (police) talk to our children without our presence?” he questioned.
Parent: OCPD’s denial of student questioning a lie
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Malaysiakini
Police have denied questioning the pupils of SK Seri Pristana as alleged by some parents to MIC.
“There is no such thing. There was never any instruction on my part. I did not ask any officer to do so. In any case, what would the children know?” said Sungai Buloh district police chief Junaidi Bujang.
He was commenting on a statement made by MIC director of strategy S Vell Paari who said that parents had complained to him that their children were questioned by police without parental consent.
Police deny interviewing Seri Pristana pupils
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Malaysiakini
Charge cops who quizzed SK Seri Pristana pupils’
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MIC director of strategy S Vell Paari has taken the police to task for allegedly questioning the pupils of SK Seri Pristana without the approval or supervision of their parents.
In a statement today, Vell Paari (left) said that several parents had informed him about this.
The MIC leader also lambasted the police for detaining a parent, who was alleged to have threatened the headmaster of the primary school.
“On whose authority did the police enter the school premises to record statements from the pupils? How could they talk to the students without the consent of their parents?
“For subjecting these children to the stress of being questioned without the presence of their parents, these police officers should be charged with criminal intimidation,” he said.
Vell Paari said he had informed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low about the matter and called on him to raise it with the cabinet.
“While we mourn about children perishing in wars abroad, our children here are being victimised by the very people tasked with protecting and educating them.
“If I was to use one word to describe this episode, it would be ‘shameful’,” he added.
On the parent’s arrest, Vell Paari questioned the need for the police to go to his house at midnight, as if he was a dangerous criminal.
The MIC leader said while the police had every right to investigate a report filed by the headmaster against the parent, he questioned the status of the police investigation with regard to the reports filed by the parents against the headmaster.
“Was there an investigation?” he asked.
‘Charge cops who quizzed SK Seri Pristana pupils’
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SK Seri Pristana, soon to be an ALL MALAY school?
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weehingthong 