LFL urges murder investigation into custodial death, wants Bukit Aman to take over probe

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has urged Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to direct that the death of police custody victim Noorizwan Zulkefly be investigated as murder.

In a statement today, LFL director Rania Aljunied and lawyer Dina Zamri, who represent Noorizwan’s family, also demanded a special team from Bukit Aman to take over the probe.

They said the calls followed recent remarks by Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (Jips) director Aida Abdul Hamid that Noorizwan’s body...

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has urged Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to direct that the death of police custody victim Noorizwan Zulkefly be investigated as murder.

In a statement today, LFL director Rania Aljunied and lawyer Dina Zamri, who represent Noorizwan’s family, also demanded a special team from Bukit Aman to take over the probe.

They said the calls followed recent remarks by Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (Jips) director Aida Abdul Hamid that Noorizwan’s body had no internal injuries, which they said contradicted the autopsy findings at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM (HUKM).

Bernama reported that a post-mortem found no internal organ injuries, although several external injuries were noted. Aida was also reported as saying that the cause of death remained undetermined pending laboratory analysis.

“The pathologist found generalised bleeding in the brain. This is a very serious internal injury which can cause death. There was also bleeding in the intestines. There are autopsy photographs clearly showing these injuries.

“The police are well aware of these internal injuries. In the face of this evidence, how can Bukit Aman issue a public statement claiming that there were only external injuries, and no internal injuries?” the lawyers asked.

Noorizwan, 42, died on Oct 1, after being detained at the Cheras district police headquarters lock-up.

Rania and Dina also disputed Bukit Aman’s position that the cause of death remained unknown pending laboratory analysis, claiming that police had been informed, in the presence of the family, that Noorizwan died from blunt trauma to the head.

The lawyers questioned why the case remained classified as sudden death despite the alleged findings, arguing that it should instead be investigated as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

“Why is Bukit Aman dragging its feet on this? The foul play in this case is incontrovertible,” they said.

'Not disciplinary matter, but murder'

Rania and Dina also said referring the case to the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC), as Aida had previously announced, would offer little consolation to the family.

They argued that Section 25(b) of the IPCC Act 2022 does not empower the commission to investigate criminal offences.

“We are surprised that the Jips head is issuing a statement on this matter. This is not just a police disciplinary matter; this is a murder case. There should be a full criminal investigation into murder led by a special investigation team from Bukit Aman,” they said.

The lawyers called on Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail to appoint such a team to take over the investigation.

They also demanded that the suspected police personnel be suspended and placed in custody to preserve evidence, and that Khalid explain why Bukit Aman had said there were no internal injuries despite the autopsy findings.

Seeking justice

Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called for a thorough investigation into Noorizwan’s death, saying there should be no compromise.

In a Facebook post, Anwar said he had instructed his officers to receive a letter delivered by Noorizwan’s family to his residence in Sungai Long, Kajang, yesterday. He added that he had informed Khalid of the matter.

On Oct 23, the family, accompanied by several lawyers, gathered outside Anwar’s residence to submit a letter demanding justice.

Last Tuesday, LFL revealed that three lawyers were being investigated for allegedly pressuring HUKM to hand over autopsy photographs showing 21 injuries.

They were LFL co-founders Latheefa Koya and N Surendran, along with Dina, who represents Noorizwan’s family.

The investigation into the lawyers has drawn criticism from former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan and Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh.