Wrongful arrest: Court awards Uthaya RM145,000

Human Rights Party (HRP) pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar was awarded RM145,000 by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today as compensation and damages stemming from his wrongful arrest and detention by police on Jan 16, 2003, at a magistrate's court in Sepang.

Judicial commissioner Rosilah Yop in her judgment dated July 29 ordered Uthayakumar to be paid RM55,000 as aggravated damages,RM50,000 for “wrongful arrest and detention” and RM40,000 for exemplary damages, with an interest of eight percent from a year since the commencement of the case.

Uthayakumar (right) had sued the government, the Royal Malaysian Police Force and 11 police officers for malicious conduct for forcing him to strip at the Sepang police station during his detention.

His arrest was ordered at the end of an inquiry by a magistrate's court into the death of a detainee in police custody, S Tharmarajah.

He had been detained to face a charge of criminally intimidating a chief inspector of police during the inquest into Tharmarajah's death.

The charge under Section 506 of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

Among others, Uthayakumar had asked the court to find that "the arrest and detention of the plaintiff (Tharmarajah) for 25 hours, without a court order, violated Article 5(4) of the constitution" and that he had been subjected to “malicious prosecution”.

A moral victory against police atrocities

Lawyer M Manoharan, who represented Uthayakumar, described the judgment as a victory for them, for it showed that the police have been abusing their powers.

“I have no regret... the good thing that has happened from this is that instances of death in police custody and by (police) shooting have dropped by 90 to 95 percent, although some of us had to suffer (to achieve) it,” said Uthayakumar.

He was referring to his 18 months in detention in Kamunting, Perak, under the Internal Security Act (ISA), shortly after a massive street protest in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25, 2007, by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), of which he was one of the key leaders.

Besides Uthayakumar, four other Hindraf leaders were also incarcerated under the ISA in December 2007 for organising the mammoth anti-government rally.

“Though the civil suit victory may not involve a huge sum, it is a moral victory in the fight for justice and for those who have died in police custody,” he said.

Senior federal counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom and Lailawati Ali, who represented the government and the police force, filed an appeal against the judgment on Aug 26.

However, since no stay order was applied for, Manoharan said they would demand that the payment is made in the interim, until the appeal is heard.

Malay mob beat up Indian youths who were in turn arrested and detained by Malay-sian police. Zero police arrest of criminals despite severe head injuries and almost blinded.

KUMAR HASHIMAH & CO No 6(A), Jalan Abdullah,

PEGUAMBELA & PEGUAMCARA Jalan Bangsar,

ADVOCATES & SOLICITORS 59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-2282 5622

Fax : 03-2282 5245

P. UTHAYAKUMAR. LL.B,…

More ► More ▼

KUMAR HASHIMAH & CO No 6(A), Jalan Abdullah,

PEGUAMBELA & PEGUAMCARA Jalan Bangsar,

ADVOCATES & SOLICITORS 59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-2282 5622

Fax : 03-2282 5245

P. UTHAYAKUMAR. LL.B, CLP.

____________________________

Hours :

Mon. – Fri.

9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Sat. & Sunday – Closed

Your Reference :


In Reply Please Quote :



Date : 2-08-2010




Y.B Dato Seri Hishamuddin Hussein

Home Minister,

Aras 12 Block D 1,

Complex Kerajaan Fasa D,

Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, Fax: 03-2693 3131

62546 Putrajaya. E-Mail: hishamuddin@moha.gov.my





Tan Sri Musa Hasssan

Inspector General Of Police,

Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,

Bukit Aman,

50560 Kuala Lumpur. Fax: 03 – 2273 1326



DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar

Chief Police Officer of Selangor,

Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen Selangor,

40912 Shah Alam,

Selangor. Fax: 03-5510 1201

ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed

Officer In Charge of Police District

Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah,

PDRM Jalan Pencala,

46050 Petaling Jaya. Fax: 03- 7954 8740



Dear Sirs,

Re: 15 to 20 Malay mob beat up Indian youths who were in turn arrested and detained by police. Zero police arrest of criminals despite severe head injuries and almost blinded.



We act for Mr. Kalaikumaran a/l Ramasamy of No 25, Lorong 3A, Taman Kayu Ara, Indah Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Mr. Selvan a/l Sundanathanaven of No 22 Jalan Satu R/ Murah Taman Kayu Ara Indah, Kg Sg Kayu Ara damansara Utama, Mr. Nitthianathan a/l Sundanathanven of No. 22 Jalan 1, Rumah Murah PKNS, Taman Kayu Ara Indah, Damansara Utama, 47400, Petaling Jaya, and Mr. Mugilan a/l Ramasamy of No. 08 Tingkat 6 Blok B 1, Vista Damansara, Kg Sg Kayu Ara 47400 Sg Buloh. Our clients had vide their four (4) respective police report numbers Damasara 014813/10 dated 22/08/2010, 014919/10 dated 22/08/2010 and 014922/10 dated 23/08/2010 lodged a police report that on 22/08/2010 while they were just whiling away (lepak) near the Sri Ara, Vista Damansara Flats where Mugilan a/l Ramasamy’s family was living, they were attacked by a malay mob (some of the attackers are known to them) using baseball bets, big buckled belts and helmets after being accused of trying to steal motorcycles. And the Malay mob led by Azlan (staff in charge of maintaintainance) Irwan, Mussyid and about 15 to 20 others robbed Kalaikumaran a/l Ramasamy of his chain worth RM 1, 500.00 and further extorted RM 500.00 from each of them.

All of them suffered severe beatings. Selvan suffered injuries to his eyes, shoulder and head. Nitthianathan a/l Sundanathanven and Mugilan a/l Ramasamy suffered injuries to their head.

When a police patrol car arrived, our clients had informed the policemen of the aforesaid cronology of events but the victims ie our client Selvan a/l Sundanathanaven , Mugilan a/l Ramasamy and another were instead arrested and put in the police lock up for one day.

Selvan a/l Sundanathanaven had immediately thereafter on 25/08/2010 received medical treatment for assault and burns to his right eye as a result of a lighted cigarette butt being thrown on his said right eye. Despite the above said actrocities by the said mob and four (4) police reports having been lodged by our clients up to date and despite about two weeks now the Petaling police have refused to arrest and prosecute the said criminals. Why? Because the criminals are Malays and the victims are merely the poor and politically powerless Indians?

In the circumstances we urge your goodselves to forthwith order the arrest of these criminals and they be prosecuted accordingly like any other Indian criminal according to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equality before the law.

This would not only see justice being done but also justice being seen to be done.

Lastly we also wish to bring to your kind attention of the lately increasing Malay Muslim mob attack on the ethnic minority Malaysian Indians and zero criminal action by the Malay-sian police the last being the attack in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan last month.

Thank you.

Your faithfully,

…………………….

P. Uthayakumar.

Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy and Raja Petra Kamarudin joint-statement

We refer to the article entitled ‘The RPK blip, bleep and the Beeb’ written by Shane Fuentes and published in Malaysian Mirror, in particular the following part of that article:

When RPK tried to desperately contact London-based Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy, the latter was understandably very wary and kept a good distance from him. RPK used a go-between to get Waythamoorthy to see him but the latter rebuffed all attempts. Finally, RPK turned up one morning at Waythamoorthy’s door himself. He was virtually shown the door.

Subsequently, he went on a tirade against Hindraf, labeling it and the Ponnusamy brothers – including the elder Uthayakumar – as racists. Hindraf did not dignify RPK’s attacks with any rebuttal.

In a statement that make no reference whatsoever to RPK, Hindraf has explained that “a racist is one who denies other people their rights in the sun”.

In the case of Hindraf, it was further explained, the ad hoc apolitical movement was only fighting for the rights of the marginalized to have their place in the sun without depriving others, in the process, of their rights”.

Hindraf sees no need to speak up for others but to focus only on the plight of the marginalized. This has been latched on by RPK to label Hindraf in his blog as racist since “it doesn’t speak up for all but only one group”.

Is it any wonder therefore that the BBC has found RPK not newsworthy enough or credible to appear on its HARDTalk show?

RPK neither makes a difference for the better nor for worse. He’s in the non-news category. No news is bad news. Bad news is good news. When a dog bites a man, it’s not news. When a man bites a dog, it’s news.

It’s more likely that Hindraf’s Waythamoorthy will soon appear on a BBC show. Even hardcore Malay racists in Malaysia concede, albeit grudgingly, that Hindraf Makkal Sakthi makes a compelling case. (read more here).

We wish to confirm that the article above is inaccurate, to put it mildly, as we have a very good relationship that extends beyond just a professional relationship but is very personal in nature. We have met many times and have visited each other’s homes on numerous occasions. Your commentary is therefore not only misleading but also malicious in intent.

Issued by:

Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy and Raja Petra Kamarudin