A writ of habeas corpus to free K Selvach Santhiran, a witness who implicated police in a death-in-custody inquest, was rendered academic following his transfer to the Batu Gajah detention camp in Perak on the Home Ministry's order.
Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Su Geok Yiam ruled that she has no jurisdiction to hear the matter as the writ had been filed to challenge the grounds of detention by the police.
However, lawyers representing Selvach said they will appeal, claiming that the court was responsible for repeated adjournments.
“The court is entrusted to uphold the highest constitutional safeguard by way of habeas corpus but it disregarded this fact despite the urgency of the matter,” lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri told Malaysiakini.
“We hold the court responsible for allowing the matter to be adjourned despite the request to expedite. We are gravely shocked that the court has opted to uphold the rights of the executive rather than the fundamental rights of an individual.”
Selvach, 39, was detained for 51 days under the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985 (DDA), before being transferred under a deputy home minister's orders on Dec 14.
Under the DDA's special preventive measures, a suspect can be detained without trial for up to 60 days.
Upon expiry of the 60 days, the home minister has the power to issue a two-year extension which can be renewed indefinitely and cannot be challenged.
'File new application'
Senior federal counsel Najib Zakaria, who entered a preliminary objection to extracting Selvach from detention, argued that his lawyers would have to file afresh now to challenge the minister's detention order.
Fadiah retorted that the provision under the DDA was different from the other preventive laws where the minister's orders supercede that of the police.
She said provisions of the DDA that relate to police orders and the minister's instructions are “inextricably linked”.
In other words, she argued that the minister's order is not valid if the police order is unlawful. To determine this, the court must be provided the reasons for the prolonged detention.
She said the affidavits submitted by the respondents did not “disclose the facts as to the reasonableness of their decision in granting the 60-day detention order against Selvach”.
Selvach has been detained since Oct 25, after the police picked him up at his home in a rough manner - handcuffing him in front of his wife and children at his house, and allegedly assaulting him publicly.
The arrest came after the open verdict delivered in the R Gunasegaran's inquest. Selvach was a the key witnesses, testifying that the police had injured Gunasegaran while in custody two years ago.
Gunasegaran, 31, who worked at a toddy shop, collapsed while his thumbprint was being taken between 6.45pm and 7pm on July 16, 2008, at the Sentul police headquarters and was pronounced dead at 7.40pm at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital the same day.
The coroner found that there were two possible causes for his death - one was based on the autopsy, which stated that Gunasegaran had died of a drug overdose, and the second based on Selvach's testimony.
Fadiah told reporters that Selvach had been admitted to the Ipoh Hospital yesterday following seizures.
“The warden had called his wife and informed her that (Selvach) had sustained head injuries and (broken) teeth,” she said.
The lawyers will be seeking to meet with Selvach as soon as possible, she added.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/151259
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