GEORGE TOWN: DAP Wanita has called on the Home Ministry to equip its enforcement officers with body cameras when conducting raids, following another case of a death in custody, this time under the jurisdiction of the Immigration Department.
In light of the suspicious death of Orhions Ewansiha Thomas, who was pursing a PhD degree in management at LimKokwing University in Kuala Lumpur, DAP Wanita’s International Bureau secretary Kasthuri Patto said it was shocking that a Nigerian student could have died suddenly while under custody.
It comes on the heels of several other fatal cases in remand lock ups either under the jurisdiction of the police or other enforcement agencies, she said.
“Immigration Officers must be equipped with body cams (cameras) during raids and operations to protect the integrity of every officer and the force. It is also to prevent wrongful allegations of misconduct.”
Footage caught during raids can also be kept for reference or produced in court.
Kasthuri, who is also the Batu Kawan MP, questioned how the immigration investigators took up to five days to verify if the deceased was indeed an international graduate student at the designing institute.
“It is with utter shock that a Nigerian student pursuing his doctorate in management had suddenly died while being held in the Bukit Jalil Detention Centre on Tuesday,“ she said in a statement.
“Detained on July 4, five days had passed before Thomas passed away – days that could have been used to contact the university to determine and certify the validity of his travel documents.”
The Immigration Department stated that the deceased did not give full cooperation during the operation and tried to run when he was approached.
But the issue could have being resolved with a quick call to the university, she said, adding that as a whole, prison reforms, including detention center reforms appear to be more necessary than ever now.
There were over 100 deaths between 2015 to 2016 in Malaysian detention centers, Kasthuri said.
