Only ‘minimal force' used, says Taiping prison officer
KUALA LUMPUR : A Taiping prison officer testifying in the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia's (Suhakam) inquiry into alleged rights abuse, described 'minimal force' as an action that does not lead to death.
Hairie Jumri, who was shown CCTV footage of him repeatedly hitting inmates in an incident on Jan 17, claimed that he was emotionally unstable at the time, but insisted his actions fell within what he considered 'minimal force'.
He said the action he and his fellow officers took had been triggered by the inmates who hurled profanities at them and threatened to harm their families.
Questioned on whether repeated blows could still be considered minimal force, Hairie said the term was 'subjective'.
Suhakam inquiry officer Simon Karunagaram asked the prisons enforcement assistant to define minimal force.
Simon: Could you define what is 'minimal force'?
Hairie: Not dead.
Simon: Let's say I punch your eyes and they swell, your vision becomes blurry three days later, would that be minimal force?
Hairie: Yes.
Simon: In an image (from the CCTV footage), there was an inmate with blood on his head. Would you say that it was due to minimal action?
Hairie: Maybe. Maybe he hit a pole. Maybe it was blood from someone else who knocked his head against a pole.
Hairie also disagreed that excessive force had been inflicted on one of the inmates who died during the incident.
Asked by Suhakam chairman Hishamudin Yunus why he kicked an inmate who already appeared weak, Hairie admitted that he was not in the right state of mind at the time.
Hishamudin: Let's say you were stable and 'sane', you wouldn't do that?
Hairie: Yes.
Hishamudin: So your action was an action of someone who's not sane?
Hairie: Yes.
The inquiry into the alleged abuse of more than 100 inmates by about 60 wardens in the Jan 17 incident is scheduled to resume on Aug 6.
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