IPCMC to be set up before year end

The Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) can finally be set up before the end of this year as the police are satisfied with the explanation given by the National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), according to Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said he was previously informed that there were several matters that were incomprehensible and had caused concern, including questions about authority, rights to appeal, disciplinary matters, and whether the police will lose their power.

However, he said the relevant parties attending the meeting with GIACC director-general Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed in Putrajaya last Friday were satisfied with the explanation given.

“Matters of concern raised by the police at all levels, including their associations, have been well explained and with the positive outcome, the setting up of the IPCMC will become a reality,” he told a press conference after presenting the letter of appointment to the new Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Mazlan Mansor here yesterday.

Abu Kassim had recently said that the setting up of the IPCMC would proceed upon approval by the Royal Malaysia Police.

Muhyiddin said the drafting of the IPCMC Bill had begun and was expected to be completed soon.

“We will be able to set up the IPCMC before end of this year because there are several Parliament sessions lined up this year that will enable the Bill to be tabled, debated and passed,” he said.

For the time being, he said the Home Ministry and the police would continue scrutinising the IPCMC proposal before the Cabinet paper prepared by the GIACC is taken to Cabinet’s attention.

Asked whether the IPCMC would comprise non-police background individuals, Muhyiddin said: “We will have to decide later. The composition of IPCMC members will be made clear as we get along.”

In another development, Muhyiddin said he had not received the details about the case involving 23 Rohingya girls who almost fell victim to a human trafficking syndicate in Malaysia.

A foreign media report claimed that Bangladesh Police had rescued the 23 teen girls after they were taken out from the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar to Dhaka before being transported to Malaysia via air route.

The report, which quoted a police spokesman, said the girls aged between 15 and 19 were promised lucrative jobs in Malaysia but would possibly be forced to work as prostitutes. - Bernama