KUALA LUMPUR, May 30- Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan (photo) regrets that his good intention to assist the family members of custodial death victim N. Dharmendran has been misunderstood.
Low, who is in-charge of human rights and integrity, said his office had attempted to reach out to the family yesterday to assist on the basis of “basic human rights”.
The move however, was sadly misunderstood as a means to settle the issue out of court, he said.
“This was never our intention,” he said, stressing that the authorities were ready to collaborate with any party on the matter, in ensuring expedient justice.
“We tried to explain that we are willing to work together with any party, regardless of political affiliations,” he said in a statement here today.
It was reported that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president N. Surendran had claimed that the deceased’s father, G. Nagayarasamy, had received a call from Low’s office, and the call was an indicator that the government intended tocover up the death.
Criminal elements were suspected in the death of Dharmendran, 32, who was detained at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters lock-up on May 21.
The federal police had promptly formed a special task force to investigate the death after the Kuala Lumpur Hospital’s post-mortem report confirmed he was murdered.
To date, the police had also set up a special committee headed by Inspector- General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to curb incidents involving deaths in police lock-ups.
Low said his office had further spoken to PKR vice-president R. Sivarasa yesterday to clarify that his ministry was willing to bridge the political divide.
He said all quarters needed to rebuild public confidence in enforcement agencies and that human rights, safety and security must be protected when a person was under custody.
He assured the public that a thorough evaluation of all procedures, practices and regulations would be made to ensure the authorities complied with the highest standard of integrity in safeguarding the well-being of any person in custody.
Expressing condolences to the deceased’s family, Low said he would like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct a parallel probe, given allegations of possible corruption.
– BERNAMA
