Cops rubbish lock-up claims by Namewee

Namewee, seen here escorted by two poliemen, was released on bail Wednesday after his remand period expired. - Bernama

GEORGE TOWN: The police have dismissed claims by controversial rapper Namewee that the lock-up he was recently in was in a deplorable condition but a human rights advocate says that most of the detention centres are in a poor state.

Following his four-day detention over his latest controversial music video Oh My God! in the Bayan Baru police lock-up, Namewee wrote on social media about being shocked at the conditions of foreign inmates.

“I encountered about 15 illegal immigrants from Myanmar, some of whom had spent more than 30 days in detention.

“The cells they were placed in were small and in poor condition. With nobody to reach out to for help, they were stuck because their employers had fled with their identifications.

“The detainees were in poor health. Some of whom, I suspect, were suffering from tuberculosis,” the singer-songwriter wrote.

The postings by Namewee have since, however, been removed.

Penang police chief Comm Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab denied Namewee’s allegations, saying that there is a standard operating procedure (SOP) to adhere to and detainees who are sick or unwell will be sent to the hospital.

“If he is sincere, then please lodge a police report so we can open an investigation.

“However, if the allegations are found to be untrue, we will investigate them as a false report,” said Comm Abdul Ghafar.

On Friday, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam had highlighted that following reports by several media including The Cambodia Daily alleging mistreatment and death at the Immigration detention centre in Juru, Bukit Mertajam, the commission and two officers from the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) visited the facility on Aug 22.

“We found the allegations to be untrue and baseless.

“However, there were five recorded deaths of detainees aged between 22 and 29 last year and one death of a 26-year-old detainee this year, all due to health reasons,” Yaacob said.

Rights advocate and Suriana Welfare Society chairman James Nayagam noted that during his six years as a commissioner he had visited almost every lock-up, prison and detention centre in the country, and had found them to be in a poor state.

“On a score of one to 10, I rate them only two on average,” he said when contacted.

“There are no proper trained medical personnel to oversee the detainees’ health.

“The highest health threat is tuberculosis, followed by skin diseases, because all detainees are put together.

“My shirts stank every time I walked out after visits,” he said, adding that the management of detainees in the centres comes under the Home Ministry.

“The Health Ministry is not involved but it has to play a part; introduce health measures, procedures and guidelines and oversee all the lock-ups, prisons and detentions centres.”