IPCMC to be set up before end of the year, says Muhyiddin

PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): The Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) can finally be set up before the end of this year as the police are satisfied with the explanation given by the National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Home Minister said he was previously informed that there were several matters that were incomprehensible and had caused concern, including questions about authority, right to appeal, disciplinary matters, and whether the police will lose their power.

However, he said the relevant parties attending the meeting with GIACC director-general Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed in Putrajaya last Friday (May 10) were satisfied with the explanation given.

“Matters of concern raised by the police at all levels, including their associations, have been well explained and with the positive outcome, the setting up of the IPCMC will become a reality,” he told a press conference after presenting a letter of appointment to the new Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Mazlan Mansor here on Monday (May 13).

Abu Kassim had recently said that the setting up of the IPCMC would proceed upon approval from the Royal Malaysia Police.

Muhyiddin said the drafting of the IPCMC Bill had begun and was expected to be completed soon.

“We will be able to set up the IPCMC before the end of this year because there are several Parliament sessions lined up this year that will enable the Bill to be tabled, debated and passed,” he said.

For the time being, he said the Home Ministry and the police would continue to scrutinise the IPCMC proposal before the Cabinet paper prepared by GIACC is taken to Cabinet's attention.

Asked whether the IPCMC would comprise non-police background individuals, Muhyiddin said: “We will have to decide later. The composition of IPCMC members will be made clear later.”

In another development, Muhyiddin said he had not received the details about the case involving 23 Rohingya girls who almost fell victim to a human trafficking syndicate in Malaysia.

A foreign media report claimed that Bangladesh police had rescued the 23 teenagers after they were smuggled out from the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar to Dhaka before being transported to Malaysia via air route.

The report quoted a police spokesman and said the girls aged between 15 and 19 were promised lucrative jobs in Malaysia but would possibly be forced to work as prostitutes. - Bernama