KUALA LUMPUR: A lawyer representing the families of 99 detainees has questioned why only five prison warders are to face charges tomorrow over the assaults on inmates at Taiping Prison that left one man dead and several others injured in January 2025.
According to police, the five are due to be charged at the Taiping Magistrates’ Court in Perak tomorrow morning.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), which conducted a public inquiry into the incident over three months in 2025, heard testimony from 50 witnesses and reviewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showing warders assaulting inmates.
Lawyer T. Shashi Devan, who also represents the family of 62-year-old Gan Chin Eng, who died from abdominal injuries caused by blunt force trauma following the January 2025 incident, said he only learnt today from Twentytwo13 that the five warders would be charged.
“I was a little surprised by that number, as the CCTV footage clearly showed that more than five warders assaulted the inmates,” Shashi told Twentytwo13.
“I don’t know who the five are. I wonder how the authorities arrived at that figure.”
In its findings, the commission, among others, recommended legal action against prison officers involved in violence against detainees, citing CCTV footage and witness testimony as direct evidence of criminal conduct that resulted in injuries and death.
Shashi added that the last-minute notification he received today meant neither he nor his team would be able to hold a watching brief for the families at the Taiping Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
“I’m surprised that they are charging them under two different sections – three under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, while two others will be jointly charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons,” he said.
Shashi says it will be interesting to see what happens to the prison’s top management.
His remarks come a month after Suhakam issued a scathing report on human rights violations at Taiping Prison, describing the abuses and negligence uncovered during its public inquiry as evidence of systemic failures in the prison’s management and administration.
Among Suhakam’s key recommendations were disciplinary action against prison management and officers who failed to prevent or control the incident, as well as those involved in acts of violence and breaches of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the law, to ensure accountability and prevent similar incidents.
Earlier today, Royal Malaysia Police Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk M. Kumar said a thorough investigation had been conducted into the incident at Taiping Prison.
He said the investigation papers were referred to the Attorney General’s Chambers and returned on June 29, with a recommendation for three charges involving five prison warders.
According to Kumar, one warder will be charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, while two others will face a joint charge under the same section read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt with common intention. Another two warders will be jointly charged under Section 324 read together with Section 34 for voluntarily causing hurt by means of a weapon with common intention.
On Dec 19, prison warder Ryndee O’Nel Victor was charged before the Taiping Magistrates’ Court under Section 304(b) of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Upon conviction, the offence is punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or both.
Twentytwo13 was the first to report the incident that led to Gan’s death. He reportedly suffered fatal abdominal injuries caused by blunt force trauma before dying after being taken to Taiping Hospital.
