Monday, October 03, 2016

Azri Mohamed - another Death in Custody (14 September 2016)

Court grants family second post-mortem in 'death in custody' case

Geraldine Tong     Published     Updated

Family of Azri Mohamed, who died while in police custody about two weeks ago, have successfully applied at the Kota Baru High Court today for a second post-mortem on his body.

Judicial commissioner Ahmad Bache allowed the application by Azri's sister Norsyazmira Mohamed shortly after she filed it this afternoon, according to the family's lawyer N Surendran.

"The order (from the judge) says that Azri's body is to be taken from the Kota Baru Hospital to Hospital Besar Kuala Lumpur in order for a second post-mortem to be carried out," the lawyer told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

Azri, who was first arrested on July 10 over a minor drug offence for possession, had been detained in the Pengkalan Chepa prison in Kota Baru, Surendran said.

Padang Serai MP said he was taken to the Kota Baru Hospital from the prison on Aug 15, where he fell into a coma and eventually died on Sept 14.

Sometime during Azri's stay in the hospital, his entire large intestine was removed, Surendran added.

Norsyazmira, he said, applied for a second post-mortem because she was dissatisfied with the results of the first one.

"He (the pathologist who performed the first post-mortem) claimed that the death was caused by an infection, even though the entire large intestine was removed and Azri himself told his sister he had been beaten while in prison.

"He (Azri) was in prison custody when this thing happened - he was beaten or something terrible happened - where he ended up having to have his large intestine removed and then eventually died.

"The family wants an explanation on how this could happen," he said.

Surendran also said that Azri's sister visited him while he was in prison on Aug 10, and she saw that he was already very sick as he had to be held by two others to walk.

However, the family was told by the police that Azri was only sent to the hospital on Aug 15, he said.

"That's five days later. Why was he not brought to the hospital as soon as possible when he fell sick?" he questioned.

Praising the judge for fixing an immediate decision, Surendran said hopefully the results of the second post-mortem would be completed within a few days.

He also said that he would be raising this issue in Parliament, when it reconvenes on Oct 17. - Malaysiakini, 27/9/2016

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