Police warn against Kugan funeral procession

Do not turn Kugan Ananthan's funeral into a political rally, warned Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar in a statement today.

He also warned those attending the funeral, scheduled to be held tomorrow afternoon, not to participate in any illegal gathering or carry banners and posters.

Kugan's remains are presently kept at the University Malaya Medical Centre following his 11-hour second post-mortem on Sunday.

Although the final rites for him were conducted last Thursday, he was not buried as the family wanted a second post-mortem done to ascertain the nature of his death.

Kugan, 22, who was detained on Jan 15 at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya on suspicion of being involved in the theft of luxury cars in Sungai Chua, Kajang, died while being questioned on Jan 20.

His family is claiming that he has been assaulted to death under custody. The first post-mortem done at the Serdang Hospital revealed that he had died of liquid in his lungs.

While his bereaved family is now preparing for his funeral to take place tomorrow, a spate of SMSes are being sent out by various people stating that a procession will be held from the University Hospital to the burial ground.

These SMSes urged "all Malaysians to come for the funeral and give support to Kugan's family".

Responding to this, Khalid said that the funeral should not be politicised or turned into an illegal demonstration as it would disrupt public order and lead to chaos.

He added that plans were underway by certain groups to turn the funeral into an illegal gathering to protest against alleged police brutally.

The police learnt that the funeral procession would pass through several parts of Kuala Lumpur before finally arriving at an undisclosed burial ground in Selangor, he said.

"Cards and banners are also expected to be carried by members of the procession," he said in a statement.

Procession will be peaceful

However in an immediate reaction, a police watchdog lashed out at Khalid for intimidating and dissuading the public from attending the funeral.

"He has failed to see the fact that if the police had acted professionally, there would not have been a funeral in the first place," said Police Watch and Human Rights Committee coordinator S Jayathas in a statement.

He also said that the authorities should give the aggrieved family and the public the necessary space to express their legitimate grievances.

He added that the public had a civic duty to attend the funeral and express their empathy for the family.

"Any attempt by the police to disrupt the peaceful funeral on whatever pretext would only further erode their credibility and that of the ruling government.

"I wish to emphasise that the funeral procession tomorrow will be a peaceful and a solemn event in accordance with Hindu rites and rituals," he added.

MIC defends deputy ministers

Meanwhile, in another statement, MIC president S Samy Vellu defended the two deputy ministers who were being investigated by the police for barging into the Serdang Hospital mortuary on Tuesday.

Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department SK Devamany and Senator T Murugiah are being probed for being part of the group which entered into the mortuary to see Kugan's body.

Both the deputy ministers have said that the crowd were already inside the morgue when they arrived but agreed to cooperate with the police.

Yesterday Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said that Devamany and Murugiah might face action if they were present at the mortuary when the crowd barged into it.

"We will hire as many lawyers to defend them if they are charged in court," said Samy Vellu in response today.

The MIC president also said that it did not matter from which party the two deputy ministers hailed from as long as they were Indians "because the MIC represents the Indian community in Malaysia".

Devamany is the MIC treasurer while Murugiah is from the People's Progressive Party (PPP).

Both Devamany and Murugiah have been questioned by the police over the incident.

The Serdang Hospital has lodged a report over the alleged break in of this crowd into the mortuary.

Pakatan MPs to press Home Minister

Commenting on the same matter, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said that the media was being used to divert attention by highlighting the incident of the deceased's family members barging into the mortuary.

"What was not reported was the mortuary guard's admission that he had opened the door of the mortuary," he told a press conference on Sunday.

He also said that the opposition wanted the government to form a royal commission to investigate abuse and allegations of torture of suspects under police custody.

Anwar said investigations into Kugan's case must be open and independent instead of being conducted by the police themselves.

He claimed that some police personnel were committing abuse and torturing suspects and these were covered up by top officials in the force.

"This (setting up of a commission) will restore the image and credibility of the police force and protect the good name of the majority of the policemen who are doing a good job," he said at the press conference.

He also added that the opposition would take up the Kugan matter, including in raising it in the Parliament.

Anwar said they would press the Home Minister to give an assurance that such incidents would not recur, not only to Indian detainees but to all.

He also visited Kugan's family in Puchong yesterday.