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Violence and Death at the Hands of the Police
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Malaysian Insider
Time to make a stand on Penang shootout, DAP tells AG
By V Anbalagan, Asst News Editor
Oct 30, 2013
More than two months after five alleged gang members were said to have been killed “execution style” by police in Penang, the DAP is asking the Attorney General if there will be an inquest into the shooting.
Legal bureau head Gobind Singh Deo said it had been two months but Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had not come out publicly to state his stand.
“The shooting of the men has become a public interest case, especially in the manner they were shot dead by police,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.
Gobind said a decision must be made to inspire public confidence in government agencies like the Attorney General’s Chambers and the police, and that they act without fear or favour.
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KILLED BY POLICE AT NIBONG TEBAL, PENANG ON 19 AUGUST 2013: J Gobinath 31, R Ramesh 27, M Suresh 25, A Binut 23 and M Gobinath 21.
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Sunday, October 13, 2013
Press Statement: Zahid’s new admission proves ‘Penang 5’ were executed by police
I refer to Home Minister Zahid Hamidi’s comments to a TV interviewer yesterday in which he admits that the Penang 5 were shot dead by police deliberately and without warning. Zahid has made a stunning admission that police believed the Penang 5 were armed and therefore decided to shoot them all dead. Under Malaysian law, the police action of intentionally shooting them to death allegedly because they were armed amounts to premeditated, cold-blooded murder. Police can only shoot suspects if they ‘ jeopardize the lives of others’. Zahid’s comments make it clear that in the early hours of August 19 2013, police had gone into the apartment in Penang with the intention to execute J Gobinath, R Ramesh, N Rakan, M Suresh and M Gobinath.
Zahid’s version of the events also completely contradict IGP Khalid Bakar who claims that the police were shot at first and returned fire killing all 5 victims. Zahid’s version is that police had decided to shoot first as the suspects were allegedly armed according to police intelligence. Which version is true? It appears that the authorities are now caught in the web of their own lies and contradictions.Zahid, the IGP and the government have much to answer for. They have cheapened the value of human life in this country, and they have encouraged criminality by the police force.In light of Zahid’s latest comments, both Zahid and the IGP must be investigated for hiding the truth about the murders which is an offence under section 201 Penal Code, with imprisonment up to 7 years; they must also be probed under section 109 Penal Code for abetment of murder.The shooting of the Penang 5 must now be classified as murder, and the case must be immediately re-opened. In view of the seriousness of Zahid’s admissions, PM Najib must immediately suspend him as Home Minister pending investigations.Issued by,N SURENDRANVICE-PRESIDENT, KEADILANMP PADANG SERAI
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Zahid’s version, Surendran said, was that the police decided to shoot first as the suspects were, according to police intelligence, allegedly armed.
“Which version is true? It appears that the authorities are now caught in the web of their own lies and contradictions.”
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LFL: Home Minister Zahid Hamidi must be arrested and prosecutedPress Statement:10 October 2013
Lawyers for Liberty is deeply concerned and disturbed at Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s ‘shoot first’ approach to law enforcement, which was voiced at the Malacca International Trade Center in Malacca last Friday.
The Home Minister was reported to have said that most victims of violent crime were in fact of Malay ethnicity, therefore when dealing with those suspected of the crimes, he had advised to ‘shoot first’.
It is disturbing that our Home Minister has given his endorsement to all law enforcement officials to mete out death sentences to suspected offenders on the street, without due process.
It is evident that the Home Minister is unaware of the basic concepts of the rule of law that underpins our justice system and has chosen to trample on the Federal Constitution and human rights. Fundamental principles of the right to life, liberty, a fair trial, due process and innocence until guilt is proven are concepts that appear to be alien to the Home Minister, which is a cause for alarm for all Malaysians.
This can be seen in his adamant views on welcoming back detention without trial, by taking ownership of the draconian amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act 1959.
By encouraging law enforcers to ‘shoot first’, the Home Minister has effectively ordered policemen and officials to disregard the criminal justice system, due process and has legitimized the cold-blooded murder of ‘suspects’ without ever being brought before a court of law.
It is also ironic that a minister so bent on curbing gangsterism with preventive detention laws and ‘shoot to kill’ policies does not hesitate to befriend the gangsters of ‘Tiga Line’.
His statement disregards and disrespects the tragic deaths of many innocent Malaysians and their long suffering families, such as Aminulrasyid, the Glenmarie Trio, the Cheras Trio, Dinesh Dharmasena and Pua Bee Chun, to name a few.
In view of the criminal nature of Zahid’s statement, we call for his immediate arrest and prosecution for instigating murder.
We also call upon Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Razak to take stern action against ministers who display such disregard for human lives and civil liberties.
Released by,
Michelle Yesudas
Legal/Campaign Coordinator
Lawyers for Liberty
For more information, please contact:
Off: 03-7960 5688
E-mail: admin@lawyersforliberty.org
www.lawyersforliberty.org
Twitter: @lawyers4liberty
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Malaysiakini
Are the authorities now caught in the web of their own lies and contradictions? This is the questioned posed by PKR vice-president N Surendran.
He was referring to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s remarks during a television interview yesterday in which he admitted that the police had deliberately gunned down five suspected criminals in Penang without warning.
“Zahid made a stunning admission that the police believed the Penang 5 were armed and therefore decided to shoot them dead.
“Under Malaysian law, the police action of intentionally shooting them to death allegedly because they were armed amounts to premeditated, cold-blooded murder.
“The police can only shoot suspects if they ‘jeopardize the lives of others’,” said Surendran in a statement today.
The Padang Serai MP also pointed out that Zahid’s version completely contradicts inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar’s take on the incident.
The police chief had earlier claimed that the suspects in the Sungai Nibong incident had opened fire on his men first, forcing them to return fire.
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Malaysian Insider
Home Minister and top cop must be arrested for fatal shooting of Penang five, says PKR
Malaysia
Home Minister and top cop must be arrested for fatal shooting of Penang five, says PKR
BY LEE SHI-IAN
October 11, 2013
The Home Minister and the Inspector-General of the Police must be arrested immediately for the fatal shooting of five suspected gangsters in Penang, said Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president N. Surendran (pic).
He said that Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s admission yesterday, during an interview on pay TV Astro Awani, that police shot the five dead without warning amounted “to cold-blooded murder”.
“Ahmad Zahid’s stunning admission that police believed that the Penang quintet was armed and therefore decided to intentionally kill them means that it is pre-meditated murder under Malaysian law,” Surendran said in a statement today.
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Malaysiakini
Questions continue to be raised about police action in shooting dead five men alleged to be triad members in Sungai Nibong, Penang, on Monday.
State MIC Youth head J Dhinagaran (left), while expressing support for efforts to combat crime, said action must be taken “in a fair manner, without (resulting in) anyone questioning (the) credibility (of the police)”.
“Although the police have been getting kudos, there have been questions as to why the police did not attempt to detain (the five),” Dhinagaran said in a statement.
‘Explain mystery behind shooting of Penang 5′
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Malaysiakini
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar today opened fire on those who cast aspersions on the fatal shooting of five suspected criminals in Penang on Monday.
Denying that the police had a shoot-to-kill policy, he said: “When police personnel died in Lahad Datu defending the nation, we were accused of staging a drama.
“When shooting cases became rampant, we were accused of sitting on our butts and not doing anything to (curb the violence).
“And when criminals are shot dead, we are accused of being overzealous and cruel. What charade are these people (the critics) playing?”
Khalid said this is an issue which concerns public security and that the police are serious in battling crime.
“We don’t care what the critics say, we have a duty to carry out, and we will carry it out to ensure that Malaysians are safe (from crime),” he stressed.
IGP opens fire on ‘shootout’ critics
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HOW CAN WE DECIDE WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH? Perhaps only if a public inquiry is held….
Malaysian Insider
Set up inquiry into shooting of five in Penang by police, says DAP
DAP has demanded for an inquiry into the shooting of five men by the police in Penang, which has led to allegations that they were executed.
Puchong MP and DAP National Legal Bureau chairman Gobind Singh Deo said if police could not justify their action, it must face the consequences.
“Wide powers are given to the police to use weapons but these powers are not without limitation. In cases where arrests may be made without the need to shoot and kill, such killings cannot be justified,” he said in a statement today.
He urged the Attorney-General to give an assurance that there will be an open inquiry and that there would be no cover up into the matter.
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The families of the victims claim that their sons died in a hail of bullets. The police say that they only fired a number of shots which hit them.
Malaysaikini
Penang police today maintained that they had followed the standard operating procedure (SOP) in the raid on an apartment where five members of a gang were killed in a shootout yesterday, contrary to the claims by the families of the dead men.
Penang chief police officer Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the police had adhered strictly to the SOP.
“It is not true that the police fired more than 30 shots at the suspects without identifying themselves. We identified ourselves before entering the apartment and were shot at.
“We kept to the SOP and only fired a number of shots which hit them, and not as alleged by them (the family members),” he told reporters at a meeting with Op Selamat 3/2013 personnel in George Town.
The media today carried reports quoting the families of the five men as claiming that police had shot repeatedly at the suspects without adhering to the SOP.
Police insist they had followed SOP in shooting incident
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The people no longer believe the standard answers of self-defence by the police. The force needs to be overhauled,” he said.
Malaysiakini
Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia chairperson P Waythamoorthy has questioned the manner the police killed the five suspects in a shoot-out in Penang as photos and their injuries suggested they were shot at “point blank” range.
Waythamoorthy (left), who is also a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said he had seen the photos of the Penang shooting sent by his sources.
After viewing them, he said no one in the right frame of mind would believe that there was actually a shoot-out between the police and suspects.
He warned that the public has been monitoring the police statements closely over the years.
“Each time the police appear to giving a standard answer that they were shot at and acted in self-defence. But the injuries do not describe a shoot-out situation while the photos show they were shot at point blank range,” said Waythamoorthy.
The association’s chairperson said it was baffling that inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar had concluded that the three weapons retrieved from the suspects were related to 10 murder cases.
“One wonders how such ballistic tests could have been carried out at super speed, and even if that was possible, how they could be linked to 10 previous murders so hastily. “
Waytha questions manner of killing of suspects
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Free Malaysia Today
Families want cops charged with murder
Families of deceased says they are not satisfied with the police press statement that the slayed were wanted for murders.
GEORGE TOWN: Aggrieved families of the five alleged members of Gang 04 who were gunned down by police on Monday demanded that the authorities haul the shooters to court.
Accompanied by their lawyer, Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer, families of the four deceased have lodged separate police reports but with the same contents at the Jalan Patani police station here.
Only the older Gobinath family did not lodge police report last night.
In their reports, the families said they were not satisfied with the police press statement that the deceased were gang members and were wanted for several murders.
They reported that they saw several bullet marks on the deceased when they were called on to identify the bodies at the forensic centre in Penang Hospital.
“We want the authorities to take firm action on those behind the brutal killing of my son,” said VR Murugasen, 52, father of the deceased Suresh.
Families want cops charged with murder
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Malaysia Chronicle
Tuesday, 20 August 2013 09:16
PENANG SHOOTOUT: Were the police right to shoot to kill?
Written by J. D. Lovrenciear
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Malaysiakini
The family members of the five men who were shot dead by police in Sungai Nibong claimed the bodies from the Penang General Hospital mortuary last night.
Speaking on behalf of the families, Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer said the families took the bodies after they had lodged police reports at the Northeast district police headquarters on Jalan Pattani.
Rayer said inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar and Penang police chief Abdul Rahman Hanafi should provide more evidence that the five killed did in fact have underworld links and were involved in a recent spate of shootings in various states in the country, as police claim.
Rayer questioned why the bodies of the men had multiple bullet wounds when they could not have escaped from the 11th floor of the apartment in Sungai Nibong.
“One of the five men was shot more than once in the head, and the others had fatal gunshot wounds on the chest, neck, face and the head and could not have survived the shooting,” Rayer said when contacted.
“The five men were in the 11th floor of the apartment and definitely could not have escaped anywhere, so it baffles me why the police shot them in the head, chest, face and the neck, instead of their legs or hands,” he added.
“Is the IGP saying that the Malaysian police are not professionally trained to effect the arrest of five men in the 11th storey of an apartment, other than shooting them dead?” Rayer asked.
Kin claim bodies, rep queries multiple bullet wounds
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FOXNEWS.com
Malaysian police kill 5, hold 200 in crime crackdown
Published August 19, 2013
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Picture taken on July 29, 2013 shows Malaysian forensic police carrying the body of late Arab Malaysian Banking Group founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi after he was shot dead on a street in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian police said they killed five suspected gang members in a shootout early Monday and arrested 200 people in a crackdown on a spate of violent crime that has shocked the country. (AFP/File)
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ARE THE POLICE trying to justify the shootings?
Read the following…
Star
Monday August 19, 2013 MYT 7:47:58 PM
IGP: Gang members behind 12 murder cases in three states (Update)
Police officers carrying out investigations at the apartment in Sungai Nibong
GEORGE TOWN: The five men who were gunned down by police early today were behind 12 shooting cases in three states, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
He said the men, some of whom were members of the notorious gang 04, were involved in at least seven murder cases and two attempted murder cases in Penang, two murder cases in Kedah and one murder case in Negeri Sembilan.
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Khalid said police also seized three pistols from the five men, aged between 23 and 27.
“We ran a test on the firearms and it was proven that they were used in at least 12 murder or attempted murder cases,” he told a press conference.
“Seven of the murders and the two cases of attempted murder occurred in Penang. Two of the murders occurred in Kedah and one in Negeri Sembilan.”All the cases took place over the past year, with the latest in Penang,” Khalid said.
Gang involved in 12 murder cases (Update)
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NST
9 August 2013| last updated at 10:39PM
Cases involving 04 gang
PENANG police shot dead five members of the notorious 04 gang who had been staying at a service apartment in Sungai Nibong.
The five, all in their 20s, were said to have been involved in he recent spate of shooting cases in the state this year.
ON AUG 8, K. Veerappan, a 37-year-old scrap dealer believed to be associated with Gang 36, was shot dead when he stopped the car he was driving near a traffic light in Anson Road.
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ON AUG 9, a third shooting occurred in the state, in Jalan Datuk Keramat, where a 43-year-old bouncer was hit in the left thigh.
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ON JAN 27, 2010 04 gang members had forced businessmen to purchase electrical goods from them.
IN 2004, the 04 gang leader in Sri Sentosa, `Negro` Mani, was busted for drugs.
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ON JUNE 29, 1993, a 17-year-old teenager was stabbed to death by an 04 member for refusing to join the gang.
It was reported in the New Straits Times that notorious killer who murdered 17 people, Kalimuthu also known as Bentong Kali, was a part of the 04 gang since 1978.
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KILLED BY POLICE
J Gobinath 31, R Ramesh 27, M Suresh 25, A Binut 23 and M Gobinath 21.
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Nadarajah Somasundram, 62, who is the uncle of one of the dead men, claimed that the five were shot multiple times and that it was likely that semi-automatic rifles were involved.
“We want to know why they were shot 20 to 30 times. It happened inside the condominium. Why can’t the police give warning shots?
Malaysiakini
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Family members of five men who were shot dead by police in Sungei Nibong caused a big commotion at the Penang Hospital this evening, expressing anger over the incident.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told a press conference in Penang this afternoon that the five were shot dead at an apartment at 4.30am.
Khalid said his men fired in self-defence and that ballistics tests from weapons recovered at the apartment showed these were linked to 10 murder cases and two attempted murder cases.
This explanation did not go down well with about 100 family members and friends of the deceased, who said that there were still many unanswered questions.
A family member of one of the men shot dead, VR Murugersan, told Malaysiakini that the five were shot “like animals” by the police.
“Why need to shoot like that? They could arrest first. Police are liars when they said they shot in self-defence,” he said.
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Other family members and friends gathered near the mortuary lost their composure outside the mortuary and were heard screaming hysterically.
A woman had to be carried away after she fainted upon identifying the body of her son.
An irate youth was seen throwing his helmet in a fit of rage before he was calmed down by others.
Outrage over Sg Nibong police shootings
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fz.com
Families question execution-style killing of five by police
The crime scene in the apartment has been cordoned off. SUNPIX by EDMUND LEE
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