Cops deny roughing up suspects in crowded courthouse corridor

Police have denied roughing up a group of detainees awaiting their remand hearing outside a courtroom after a video of the incident was shared on social media.

The video shows a group of men in orange lock-up suits pleading their case with the public, saying they had been wrongfully arrested.

They were among 29 men arrested in connection with a shooting incident in Banting, Selangor.

In the video, the men were seen huddled together while being handcuffed as several policemen urged them to stand up.

There was no social distancing in the crowded corridor as required by the health ministry’s SOPs.

In the two-minute video of the incident shared by Twitter user @apizzahoe, a man in casual clothing was also seen using his foot on the head of one of the detainees who had fallen to the ground.

tw: POLICE BRUTALITY

This happened JUST TODAY

29 men were wrongfully captured by police who claimed that they were suspects to a shooting in front of a school in Banting. The men were brought to court and the court ruled that ALL of them were- pic.twitter.com/mzoqFw1uIa

— bimbo rights! (@lilizzahvert) November 12, 2020

It is believed that the men refused to stand up when told to by police, as they did not want to be sent back to the lock-up.

The Twitter user said the men were afraid of being forced to confess to their involvement in a gang-related shooting incident outside a school in Banting in September, which saw three students injured.

It was also claimed that the men “don’t even know each other”.

When contacted, Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin denied police had roughed up the detainees.

“I did not see any detainees being beaten,” he told MalaysiaNow.

He refused to comment when asked about the failure to heed health SOPs while awaiting the hearing.