Friday, November 25, 2005

Malaysian Police Walk The Abu Ghraib Way

We laughed and ridiculed the Americans when the Abu Ghraib abuse story broke out. Now, they and the whole world will be returning us the favour, all because of some 'clever act' by some of our idiotic men and women in blue. If you've not heard about the biggest news in Malaysia at the moment, your excuse better be that you were lost in some thick and dark jungle, or you were in some faraway planet, cos this is some serious shit and very few will beat this as one of the most humiliating and distasteful events to plague us Malaysians. Absolutely shameful!

Nude woman ordered to ear squat

KUALA LUMPUR: A controversial video footage showing a woman in uniform instructing a Chinese-looking naked woman to do ear squats caused an uproar after it was made public yesterday.

Police have now started investigations and have lodged a report on their own.

Ministers and MPs expressed disgust with the way the naked woman was treated after they were shown the clip by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok at Parliament House yesterday.

The video clearly shows the woman standing naked in a room with some lockers to her right. The woman in uniform can be heard telling the woman in Bahasa Malaysia to pull her ears, squat and stand up. The naked woman did 10 ear squats.

The 70-second video clip is said to have been taken using a cellphone and has been widely circulated through the multimedia messaging service (MMS) over the past few days.

The person who recorded the incident did it through a grilled window.

However, the identity of the uniformed person or location where the incident took place could not be ascertained at present. It is also not known when the incident took place.

The footage has led people to link the scenes shown in it to the ordeal of four women from China at a police station recently.

The four alleged that a policewoman asked them to strip and perform ear squats in a room at a station while in police custody.

They were arrested on suspicion of having invalid travel documents in Sungai Buloh here on Nov 3.

However, the four women have denied being the naked woman shown in the video clip, saying they were on the first floor of a building without windows.

This is the latest scandal to hit the Royal Malaysian Police Force and some balls (and breasts?) better be shaking now. If those responsible think they can get away with it, they must be joking. They probably thought they were immune to the law then but how awful their stomach must be feeling now that they have been exposed. It is as if the Abu Ghraib incident had not taught these idiots that such acts are inhumane, totally unacceptable and the perpetrators will eventually face the music. Did they really think they could get away with it? I would be damn pissed if they weren't handed a heavy and deterrent punishment.

Those involved in any way to this fiasco, directly and indirectly, must be accountable for their actions (or inaction). Not only should they be charged in the court of law and put in a lockup straight away pending a trial, they should lose their jobs and pensions and never to be employed by anyone ever again. Come to think of it, why should they even bother about employment when they should be spending the rest of their lives behind bars? There should be no leniency at all irregardless if they have kids or the like. They should have thought of that before disgracing Malaysia, in general and the police force, in particular. What they have done is totally unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

If anyone still doubts it, technology has definitely given us a way to expose the dark secrets that would never have seen the light of day. The MMS clip has not only helped highlight the plight of the Chinese national but also bring to the public's attention the abuse of power that is plaguing the police force. Technology can help make sure they will always be on their toes and think twice before they break the law that they were entrusted to uphold in the first place. It is about time we feel safe living in our own country.

This is definitely not the first case that has tarnished the name of the police force and most likely, it will not be the last if affirmative action is not taken. Just recently, a blog was created to highlight the ordeal of 22 innocent Malaysians who were wrongly accused and charged for taking drugs during a raid. The police force definitely needs reform quick. Too much hanky-panky have been going on and this must now come to an end. The integrity of the force must be restored and action must be taken immediately to arrest this decline. It's good that the powers that be have expressed their shock and disgust over this episode, and support an all out investigation. I just hope it will not end as yet another NATO (No Action, Talk Only).

(picture from The Star)





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