Noorizwan's death in custody: 60 rally at Bukit Aman to demand a murder investigation

KUALA LUMPUR: About 60 people gathered outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters on Saturday to demand answers and a murder investigation into the death of Noorizwan Zulkefly, 42, after he was held in the lock-up at the Cheras district police headquarters last month.

The gathering drew family members, civil society representatives and lawyers from Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), and took place on what would have been Noorizwan's 42nd birthday.

The group submitted a memorandum addressed to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Khalid Ismail. It was received by an officer from the corporate communications unit, and was endorsed by 75 organisations and individuals.

The memorandum urged that the case be investigated as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code, and demanded action against the officers alleged to be involved.

It also sought an explanation for the delay in informing the family, and the preservation of closed-circuit camera recordings, lock-up registers, detention records and medical documents.

His younger brother, Nooranis Zulkefly, disputed the police account that standard operating procedures had been followed throughout his brother's arrest and detention, and asked the inspector-general to explain the circumstances of the death himself.

Noorizwan was detained in late September and held in the Cheras district police headquarters lock-up for about 10 days.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Fadil Marsus said he was reported to be unwell before being taken to Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital, and died at about 1.52am on Oct 1 while receiving treatment.

According to the family, Nooranis received a text message at about 8pm on Oct 1, said to be from a police officer, stating that Noorizwan had been injured in a fall in custody and taken to hospital before being pronounced dead. The family said they had not been told earlier of his arrest or where he was being held.

Family lawyers Rania Aljunied and Wan Nabilah Dina Wan Zamri said a senior pathologist told the family on Oct 12 that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

The post-mortem at Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital identified 21 injuries on Noorizwan's body, they said, among them severe swelling across the skull and generalised bleeding in the brain, swelling and lacerations around the eyes and ears, injuries to the chest, shoulders, arms, wrists, hips, thighs, knees and feet, and internal bleeding in the intestinal area.

Those findings, disclosed by the family and its lawyers, are separate from the official conclusion of the police investigation, which has yet to be finalised.

At a news conference on Oct 15, Fadil said the arrest and detention had been carried out in accordance with set procedures, and that police were still awaiting the full Chemistry Department report and formal pathology findings to determine the cause of death.

He said the case was classified as a sudden death, and that the investigation was being handled by the Bukit Aman custodial death investigation unit together with the integrity and standards compliance department. The investigation is examining whether there was any misconduct or breach of standard operating procedures.

Fadil also urged the public to avoid speculation while the investigation was under way.

The family's lawyers condemned parts of what Fadil said at that news conference, including his reference to Noorizwan's past records and his characterisation of the injuries as minor. They described the remarks as misleading and as showing no regard for the family's feelings.

On Oct 16, LFL executive director Latheefa Koya lodged a police report at the Petaling Jaya police station against Fadil, alleging that his remarks at the news conference were misleading and inaccurate.

Latheefa said two Bukit Aman officers had also been present at the pathologist's briefing on Oct 12, and that police therefore had detailed information on the injuries and the cause of death before the news conference took place.

As of this report, police had not issued a statement on the memorandum handed over on Saturday.

No investigative finding has been announced establishing who, if anyone, was responsible for Noorizwan's injuries. The family's call for the case to be classified as murder is their demand, not a confirmation that a criminal offence has been proved.