It took Taiping Prison two weeks after the alleged human rights violation, and the death of inmate Gan Chin Eng on Jan 17, before its deputy director, Superintendent Shahrul Izzat Hamid, convened a debriefing session regarding the incident.
Despite this, not all officers involved in the operation to transfer inmates from Hall B to Block E on Jan 17, which later escalated into an alleged inmate abuse incident, were present at the debriefing.
Shahrul Izzat, 38, who was testifying at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) public inquiry into alleged human rights violations at Taiping Prison, said he was unable to identify which officer, if any, had instructed Warden Raja Masrul Azan Raja Mansor to use the prison mobile phone to record and photograph the incident on Jan 17.
He also, earlier today, revealed Raja Masrul Azan has yet to face any disciplinary action.
Following this, lawyer Shashi T. Devan, who is representing the families of 99 inmates at the prison, including Gan, asked Shahrul Izzat about debriefing his officers.
Shashi: You received orders to transfer the inmates on Jan 17. You briefed your officers on the process, including the dos and don’ts. Was a debriefing held after the incident, and when?
Shahrul Izzat: I didn’t have time to do it on the same day, as some of the officers had gone back. The next day was a Saturday. I think I only did the debriefing two weeks later as we were all busy with the police investigations.
Shashi: Did you debrief the director or HQ (Prison Department)?
Shahrul Izzat: No, but there is a SitRep – situation report.
Shashi: So, apart from the SitRep, there is no other document?
Shahrul Izzat: There is a chronology of events.
Shashi: Who is responsible for this chronology?
Shahrul Izzat: The situation room gathers the information, and there is a secretariat, but I signed off on the report.
The questioning continued as Shashi then asked Shahrul Izzat some statistics about the incident.
Shashi: Let’s move on to statistics. Can you tell me how many inmates were involved during the transfer?
Shahrul Izzat: We received 104 inmates (from the Batu Gajah Correctional Centre on Jan 16) but only 103 bodies as one was warded in Ipoh Hospital. Of that number, I rejected eight inmates as they were on my blacklist. Another four were isolated for suspicion of having contraband items, and two more were sent to the prison’s clinic.
Shashi: So, that makes it 89 inmates. But as we have seen from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, other inmates were also brought in from a different block.
Shahrul Izzat: Yes, some were returning from court and also from Ipoh.
Shashi: So, how many inmates in total?
Shahrul Izzat: Total would be 107 inmates.
Shashi: How many officers were present?
Shahrul Izzat: I can’t give you the exact figure, but about 60 officers.
Shashi also asked whether Shahrul Izzat had handed the prison mobile phone to the police to help with their investigation. The deputy director replied that he had not been asked to do so.
Shashi: You mean they haven’t asked for it?
Shahrul Izzat: Not yet.
Shashi: Would you hand it over so they can use some cybersecurity experts to see if they can retrieve the videos and photographs?
Shahrul Izzat: If they asked, I have no issues handing over the mobile phone to them.
Inquiry panel chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus, who is joined by Dr Farah Nini Dusuki, then interjected to ask if it was still possible to retrieve the information even though it was deleted.
Shahrul Izzat: It can be retrieved.
Shashi: Have you taken disciplinary action against Raja Masrul Azan.
Shahrul Izzat: We are waiting for (the outcome of the) police investigation.
Earlier, Shashi asked Shahrul Izzat to explain what he meant when he previously testified that the prison tried four times to negotiate with the inmates to move out of Hall B to Block E.
Shashi: As a layman, negotiations mean trying to meet each other halfway or reach a compromise. Is this what happened with the inmates?
Shahrul Izzat: Negotiations in this context meant they had to follow orders no matter what, but we can compromise. For example, if they say they don’t want to go to Block E as it still uses the bucket system, we can say we will find time for you to use proper toilets.
Shashi: But they will have to move.
Shahrul Izzat: Yes.
Only one officer tried to stop the beatings
Earlier, assistant prison administrator Mat Nasir Ramli, 51, testified he tried to stop the officers from beating the inmates.
Questioned by Suhakam’s assisting inquiry officer, Aida Suraya Haron, Mat Nasir said he feared for the inmates’ lives.
Aida Suraya: Did you know they didn’t want to be transferred?
Mat Nasir: I worked the afternoon shift and I was informed that the negotiations failed, but they would be transferred no matter what.
Aida Suraya: Who told you?
Mat Nasir: The morning deputy prison administrator (Teuku Mohd) Hasbi (Tarmizi).
Aida Suraya: Where were you?
Mat Nasir: Stationed at the main gate.
Aida Suraya: What happened next?
Mat Nasir: I was at the checkpoint with (deputy prison administrator) Khairul Esmail (Mohd Zawawi). We saw the officers getting ready and heard some commotion and abusive words. After we finished the master copy, we went towards Hall B as we were the evening supervisors and needed to know what was going on.
Aida Suraya: You were not involved in the briefing (by Shahrul Izzat)?
Mat Nasir: No, I wasn’t.
Aida Suraya: Did you see any officers behave aggressively?
Mat Nasir: There were some, but they were behind me as I had gone to the back of the hall.
Aida Suraya: Was their action reasonable?
Mat Nasir: Not reasonable.
In the closed section of the inquiry, during the viewing of the CCTV footage, Aida Suraya asked Mat Nasir why he was the only one who seemed concerned for the wellbeing of the inmates, and why he intervened several times to stop the officers from beating them.
Mat Nasir: As an officer, it was my duty to stop them. I was afraid someone would get killed. We are not supposed to cause bodily harm.
Aida Suraya: You were pushed by one of the officers when you tried to stop them from beating an inmate?
Mat Nasir: I think the officer had lost his balance when he bumped into me.
Aida Suraya: Do you agree that the officer used excessive force?
Mat Nasir: Yes.
The inquiry resumes on Sept 2.
