Why delay Radzi’s case?

I’m writing as a member of the press in response to Radzi Razak’s case. It clearly shows that the police have not only failed to restrain its men on April 28, but are still in a state of self-denial three weeks after Radzi was bashed up by 8 to 10 policemen.

According to the report, the incident happened near Dataran Merdeka at 7pm, after all hell had broken loose. As a matter of fact, except for those protestors who could not leave the City because of the LRT shutdown, most people had already left for home knowing that they have made a statement.

If there was a reason for the boys in blue to bash him up, one of them should be brave enough to lodge a police report against Radzi instead of hiding behind the veil. The public is watching this and other cases to see how the police handle the complaints from both civilians and members of the press corp.

Unprecedented police violence is clearly condemned by all sectors of society and the delay in handling the complaint is uncalled for. The Bersih 2.0 Steering Committee has in fact called on the government to investigate the police brutality unleashed on that day.

Despite Radzi’s description that his assailants were men in their early 20s or 30s, the police officers at the half-hour identification parade on May 17 at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters were too old. Instead of showing urgency into the investigation, the police officer in charge of the case told Radzi to return to the police headquarters a week later.

By Friday, May 24, one month would have lapsed since the hugely successful Bersih 3.0 rally which gathered over 250,000 Malaysians from all walks of life.

In my opinion, investigation into the case has taken far too long given that time is an important essence. Where there is will, there is a way. It has never been difficult for the police to rally its men together. I therefore see it as ironical that the police was unable to gather its men within a span of two hours after the first identification parade was called off.

Commonsense tells us that the police force cannot be trusted to investigate its own men. There has to be an independent body set up such the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which was proposed by the Royal Commission of Inquiry in 2006.

It is high time that prime minister Najib Tun Razak heed the people’s voices and set up the IPCMC, failing which the public has no other avenue to address police brutality against civilians, including a member of the press corp.

I also note that former Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, being a former cop, should also step aside from the inquiry panel set up by the Home Ministry in view of the nature of the inquiry and his prejudices against the Bersih demonstrators.