2 detained from huge crowd at Kugan's funeral - Malaysiakini

KUALA LUMPUR, — A huge crowd is now following A. Kugan's funeral procession from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) under the watchful eyes of the police to the USJ 8 police station for prayers before the final rites at the Puchong Batu 14 crematorium this evening.

Police are providing an escort for the procession.

They had earlier arrested five men wearing Hindraf T-shirts as they threw a tight cordon around the medical centre for the suspected car thief's funeral. They only allowed some 50 people, including family and several lawmakers, to claim Kugan's body.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said family and friends paid respects at the mortuary five at a time. Police had earlier chased away reporters and nearly 100 supporters around the mortuary waiting to pay respects.

The Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and Light Strike Force had cordoned off the teaching hospital this morning but crowds, responding to text messages, have turned up for the funeral procession. Several tried to go through the barricade but police ordered them to disperse.

Police arrested two men when the crowd were dispersing just after noon. The government had banned the Hindraf movement last year, making all its symbols illegal, after it organised a massive protest in November 2007. Five Hindraf leaders are under ISA detention.

Another two were arrested later for inciting the crowd, police said. They also wore Hindraf T-shirts.

"I don't see why anyone has been arrested. We are not here to make trouble," Gobind, who is also Puchong MP, told reporters.

"They are just here to pay last respects," said Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam, who said he will lodge a police report against Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar for making conflicting statements over Kugan's death.

Kugan, a 22-year-old insurance claims executive, was arrested on Jan 14 for allegedly being involved in a luxury car-theft ring. He died on Jan 20 after drinking some water, police claimed. An initial autopsy said he died of "fluid in the lungs".

But the Attorney-General's Chambers have classified the case as murder after an outcry by the family and lawmakers, and a second autopsy over the weekend found external injuries and phlegm in his lungs.

The family and authorities are waiting for detailed toxicological and tissue tests in the final autopsy report.

Critics have said Kugan's death is the latest in custody deaths in Malaysia, mostly among Indians detained by the police.

But Hindraf legal advisor S. Tanendran disagreed, saying it is a Malaysian issue, not a racial issue. "Deaths in detention happens to all races," he said.

Previous news
A second autopsy on suspected car thief Kugan Ananthan has found external injuries caused by blunt force trauma, sources told The Malaysian Insider.

The 22-year-old, who died while in police custody on Jan 20, was said to have died of cardiac arrest following the injuries, the sources said.

Initial findings also revealed Kugan was asthmatic, and his condition had caused phlegm to accumulate in his lungs.

The full report is expected to be issued within days after Universiti Malaya Medical Centre pathologists carried out the autopsy that lasted nearly 10 hours on Sunday following a dispute over earlier findings that he had died of "water in the lungs".

The Attorney-General’s Chambers have classified the case as murder and 11 policemen from the Subang USJ Taipan police station have been reassigned to desk duty pending investigations.

It is understood that closed-circuit-television-cameras (CCTV) were not placed in the police station’s lock-up despite a directive years ago that was intended to prevent claims of police abuse.

Kugan was said to be part of a syndicate involved in stealing luxury cars but his family said he has no criminal record and worked as an insurance claims executive.

Kugan will be cremated at the Puchong Batu 14 crematorium on Wednesday.

Fearing trouble, police have warned his family and friends not to turn the funeral into a protest following unconfirmed reports that a procession with banners and placards are being planned.

The police are now questioning some 21 people, including two deputy ministers, for allegedly barging into a hospital mortuary to view Kugan’s body last week. The family and the two politicians dispute the police and hospital version of events, saying they had a right to see the body.

His death is the latest over the years of suspects, mainly Indians, who had died suddenly in police custody.

Political parties across the divide have asked for an independent probe into his death and others in the past.

His family has also criticised the police for hiding behind a wall of silence over the death.

“The police never informed us that he was arrested and we only heard about it from an anonymous caller,” Kugan’s uncle V. Raviroy told The Malaysian Insider.

The 42-year-old businessman said no matter what Kugan was accused of doing; he did not deserve to die.

“Kugan was only 22, he had his whole life ahead of him, why did he end up dead in the lockup?” he lamented. (TheMalaysianInsider)

Click this link to read more!

Hindraf call to PM to revoke illegal order by Home Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Banning Hindraf will not banish the groundswell of emotion, says its chairman P. Waytha Moorthy.

In a press statement, the organisation’s leader-in-exile said that “declaring Hindraf as an illegal organisation will in any case not banish the spirit that created Hindraf” and called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi “to advise his Home Minister to revoke the order.”

“Hindraf represents a very deep feeling experienced in the hearts and souls of millions of Indians both locally and internationally,” he claimed.

Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar announced the outlawing of the movement, saying Hindraf would continue to pose a threat to public order, the security and sovereignty of the country as well as the prevailing racial harmony.

“The decision to declare Hindraf an illegal organisation is not based on one or two of its activities that are in contravention of the law but covers all the actions it has taken since being formed,” he said.

Waytha Moorthy, who has been in exile in Britain since his fellow leaders, the “Hindraf 5”, were detained under the Internal Security Act, called the decision “dastardly and ludicrous”.

He added it showed the government is at its wit’s end and that “Malaysia is indeed a police state under the pretext of democracy" as it has used the ISA, Sedition Act and now the Societies Act to silence a “legitimate voice of democracy”.

“The Umno-led government enjoys demonising and bullying us on the pretext of law, public order and national security when all we are fighting for is to address the true and real condition of the downtrodden Malaysian Indians who have been systematically marginalised, suppressed and oppressed,” he stated in the e-mail.

“Hindraf represents the Indian commoner, the hard working oily-faced man who is made fun of in the streets, the man who people step on, the man who walks past you yet you notice him not.”

This current saga has developed against the background of Hindraf’s presence at the Cabinet Hari Raya open house, where over 200 supporters attended to beseech Abdullah to free the Hindraf 5.

On Tuesday, three other Hindraf leaders — S. Jayathas, K. Selvam and K. Shanti, Waytha Moorthy’s wife — were requested to present themselves at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to have their statements on the incident recorded.

Click this link to read more!

Home Ministry wants to ban the HINDRAF

PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry wants to ban the Hindu Rights Action Force.

Secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said as Hindraf was not a registered organisation, the ministry's legal unit would look at the technicality of disbanding the group.

He said Hindraf had on many occasions created unrest within the community, citing the recent gate-crashing of the prime minister and cabinet's Hari Raya open house as an example.

Abdul Aziz said Hindraf's insolence could not be tolerated as it had angered many, especially Muslims who felt Hindraf had marred the spirit of the Hari Raya.

He also said the police were looking into who were behind the incident. Speaking to the New Straits Times from Singapore, Abdul Aziz was also bemused at reports that Hindraf had lodged a police report against Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, for allegedly hurting the feelings of Hindraf members in a news report.
He said if the report had been made under Hindraf's name, it would be ridiculous as the group was not even a formal entity.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had on Monday said he was irked by Hindraf's attitude during the incident.

Having allowed the group who came in colour-coordinated T-shirts to join the celebrations, Abdullah said he regretted their unruly behaviour of chanting for the abolition of the Internal Security Act and the release of their leaders detained under the Act.

Abdullah said the group was also arrogant as they did not even bother to shake the extended hands of the hosts and country's leaders who stood in a line to greet visitors to the open house.

Hindraf coordinator R. Thanenthiran had claimed that the Utusan Malaysia front page report on Oct 4, titled "Hindraf diberi amaran" (Hindraf warned), quoting Syed Hamid, was unfair and smacked of racial undertones.

He also demanded that Syed Hamid apologise openly as his statement had hurt the feelings of Hindraf members.(NST)

Click this link to read more!

Those who use ISA not qualified to be a leader - Anwar

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today he believes that Malays or Muslims who use cruel laws against Hindus are not qualified to rule the country.

He also accused the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia newspaper of twisting facts to spark off hatred of the Malays for Hindus.

The issue at hand, he said, was the use of the Internal Security Act, which Anwar described as a cruel law.

"We as Malays, as Muslims, if we show cruelty to Malays or to Hindus, such a Malay is not qualified to rule the country. You can take that down Utusan Malaysia," he told reporters today.

Anwar had been asked to comment on the move by representatives of the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) in presenting a memorandum calling for the release of those detained under the ISA to the Prime Minister at his Hari Raya open house last week.

"The issue is not any protest by Hindraf. The issue is the cruel ISA. Those detained under this cruel law must be released," said Anwar.

Asked what he thought about speculation that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would not defend his Umno presidency, he said he did not believe a government or an Umno led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be any better.

He said he did not believe that BN would be able to garner more support or credibility under Najib.

"We are talking about a system tainted by corruption. It is important that we continue to call for reform and change," he said.

Click this link to read more!