Witness: Police assaulted suspect for not confessing

THE trial of four police officers accused of causing the death of a man in police custody began yesterday at the High Court, where the first witness testified to seeing two of the defendants assault the victim allegedly for refusing to confess to a series of thefts.

The four defendants, Inspector Hj Azwan Dato Paduka Seri Hj Abdul Rahman, Lance Corporal Sofian Jumat, Police Constable Andrew Anak Adin and Police Constable Pg Asmanuddin Pg Hj Md Said are charged with causing the death of Abdul Rahim Abdullah @ Tan Tong Hock by beating him up in order to extort a confession.

All four defendants are represented by Yusof Halim of Messrs Cheok Sankaran Halim, while Hj Nabil Daraina PUKDPSS Ustaz Hj Badaruddin and Chris Ng appeared for the public prosecutor.

The first prosecution witness, Mohd Saiful, told the court that he was arrested in January 2009 under suspicion of committing a series of thefts in Kg Bunut and Jln Limau Manis.

He was brought to the Limau Manis Police Station for further investigation where he met Tan, the deceased, who was also being investigated for the same crimes.

Mohd Saiful claimed that he did not commit the offences for which he was arrested, even though he confessed to them without inducement from the police.

The witness alleged he saw two of the officers, L/Cpl Sofian and PC Andrew kick the victim, who was handcuffed at the time, in the stomach, hit him and then step on his abdomen while he cried out in pain.

Mohd Saiful claimed this was going on for "less than five minutes" until Tan collapsed on the ground, and police instructed him to leave the interrogation room and wait in the hallway.

The witness also alleged that police had assaulted him, which resulted in one of his hands needing stitches.

Asked why the police were so brutal with the Tan, Mohd Saiful said he believed it was because Tan would not confess to the crimes for which he was being investigated.

Later that night, Mohd Saiful said he witnessed PC Andrew drag Tan, who could no longer stand, to the lock-up at Limau Manis Police Station.

With that, the prosecution concluded their questioning of the witness, who is serving time at Jerudong Prison for stealing onions.

The four defendants are currently out on court bail of $10,000 with two local sureties.

Their passports have been seized to prevent them from leaving the country.

They are expected to report to a court-appointed official once a week.

The conditions of their bail state that they are not allowed to go near Limau Manis or Sengkurong police stations and they are not to approach the 34 witnesses lined up for questioning during trial.

If found guilty, the accused face a maximum of 15 years in prison with a fine for the first charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

For the second charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt in order to extort a confession, the accused face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison with whipping.

The trial continues tomorrow when the defence counsel will cross-examine the first witness, Mohd Saiful.

The Brunei Times