MALAYSIAN COPS FACE CHARGES OVER KUGAN'S DEATH

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia – Police today said that the policemen involved in the death of A.Kugan are likely to face charges either today or within this week at the Petaling Jaya Magistrate court.

• “We will know tomorrow,” Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar told The Malaysian Insider tonight.
• However, he could not say how many policemen would be charged and what charges the men would be facing because police will only get the documents from the deputy public prosecutor tomorrow morning.
• The 22-year-old, who was detained on suspicion of being a car thief, died on Feb 20 after five days in police custody.
• His mother N. Indra, 40, today told The Malaysian Insider that she would not be satisfied unless the policemen responsible were charged with murder.
• “We will continue to fight and not let the matter rest if they are not charged with murder,” she said.
• Ironically, Indra, who has been waiting eight months to see justice for her son, said she cannot be in court tomorrow to see the faces of the men who caused his death.
• “I work in housekeeping at a hotel. No one told me they would be charged so I could not take leave,” she said. However she said Kugan’s uncle, N. Ravi would be able to go.
• When contacted, Ravi also said he wanted the suspects to be charged for murder.
• A total of 11 policemen with the ranks of constables and lance corporals were transferred to desk duty at the Selangor Police headquarters following Kugan’s death in January.
• His death had called into question police interrogations methods and caused wide spread resentment especially among the Indian community.
• To make matters worse for the authorities, two post-mortem reports on his body had significant differences, including descriptions of the extent of injuries and the actual cause of death, and these discrepancies have given rise to concerns about an attempted cover-up.
• The case was initially classified as voluntarily causing hurt to extort a confession but was reclassified as murder after public outcry.
• Kugan was suspected to be involved in several cases of theft of luxury cars and was detained at the Taipan police station in USJ, Subang Jaya, he collapsed and died.

Source: The Malaysian Insider