Sabah police back IPCMC Act but with reservations

Sabah police will be supporting the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Act although certain sections of the Bill are “draconian” and “unfair to policemen”.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said like Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, they too would be supporting the Bill but urged some terms to be amended as well as various conditions to be improved on.

“There is a need to improve and review existing laws, constitutional matters, logistics, policemen’s welfare and other things first,” he said after a public hearing on the Bill here yesterday.

He described some sections in the IPCMC Bill to be draconian and unfair to policemen, as well as not practising the separation of powers.

Omar said under existing laws, an accused had the right to remain silent or choose not to answer a question during interrogation if he found this could be detrimental to his case.

However, he said the IPCMC Bill made it a requirement for the accused – in this case, a policeman or enforcement personnel – to answer all the questions put to him or risk being jailed for up to two years or fined up to RM10,000.

He said this was unfair to the accused.

Omar also pointed out that under the IPCMC Bill, the committee could receive complaints and conduct its investigation before charging or penalising those found guilty.

“There is no separation of powers. This is unfair to the accused. This has to be refined,” he said, adding that all these matters should be taken into account and fine-tuned before the Bill was tabled in Parliament.

On the proposed 10-committee members to head the commission, Omar said he hoped to see at least one representative from the force or even ex-policemen to assist in the investigations.

Earlier, chairman of the parliamentary Special Select Committee tasked with looking into the draft legislation, Ramkarpal Singh said public feedback has been positive so far.

“We still have a few more sessions before we finalise our report, taking into account what has been suggested by those who participated,” he said.

He said they expected to complete and hand in their report to the government by Dec 18.

More than 100 participants comprising those from the security forces and political parties were present for the public hearing.