Officer testifies he heard Anwar screaming<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): A Malaysian police officer on Monday
\nsaid he heard a groan from sacked finance minister Anwar
\nIbrahim's detention cell in September after the then police chief
\nand another senior officer entered the room.<\/p>\n
Senior police officer Koh Hong Sun told the royal commission
\ninvestigating injuries Anwar sustained after his arrest that
\nformer Inspector-General of Police Abdul Rahim Noor and Criminal
\nInvestigation Department head Yaacob Mohamad Amin were alone in
\nAnwar's cell at the time.<\/p>\n
Koh was the officer who arrested Anwar on September 20 and
\naccompanied him to federal police headquarters in the capital,
\nwhere he was placed in a detention cell.<\/p>\n
\"I was waiting for further instruction... I saw Tan Sri Abdul
\nRahim, the then IGP, and Datuk Yaacob come into the lockup,\" Koh
\ntold the commission on its first day of public hearings.<\/p>\n
\"I heard a groan after that,\" said Koh, speaking in Malay. He
\nsaid Abdul Rahim and Yaacob were alone in the cell.<\/p>\n
Koh said that after the police chief and the CID director had
\nleft, he went to the door of Anwar's cell and saw someone nursing
\nan injury on the left side of Anwar's forehead.<\/p>\n
Anwar appeared in court in September with a black eye and
\ninjuries to his neck and hand that he said he sustained in police
\ncustody. The royal commission's chief investigator Abu Talib
\nOthman said on Monday that Anwar was assaulted by a senior police
\nofficer.<\/p>\n
The commission, set up under the Commission of Inquiry Act, is
\nempowered to subpoena witnesses, report to Malaysia's king and
\npropose appropriate action.<\/p>\n
Anwar and Abdul Rahim were represented by lawyers. The
\nMalaysian Bar Council was an observer.<\/p>\n
Another witness, also a police officer, told the hearings that
\nhe was scolded by Yaacob after he saw Anwar being led to the cell
\nwithout handcuffs. \"Treat him like an ordinary criminal,\"
\nSharifuddin Abdul Ghani quoted Yaacob as saying.<\/p>\n
A third witness named Yap Khian Wai, also a police officer,
\nsaid it was Abdul Rahim who ordered Anwar be blindfolded. The
\nformer police chief's lawyer, Teck Toh Peik (corrects), denied
\nthis.<\/p>\n
Koh said he saw Anwar again in the cell about three hours
\nlater to serve him with an amended arrest notice.<\/p>\n
\"He was conscious. I spoke to him and he responded rationally
\nto whatever I said.<\/p>\n
\"There was no black eye, just a swelling about an inch (two
\ncm) in size. There was no bleeding from the nose, mouth or eyes,\"
\nhe said to a question from Yeoh Poh Hong, a medical doctor who is
\npart of the three-member commission.<\/p>\n
No complain<\/p>\n
Koh said Anwar did not complain about the injuries to him or
\nask for a medical assistance. Koh said he did not report the
\nincident to anyone.<\/p>\n
He said Anwar asked him if his daughters, who had earlier
\naccompanied him to the police headquarters, had left.<\/p>\n
A commission member chided Koh, one of five witnesses on the
\nopening day, when he said he could not recall vividly his first
\nmeeting with Anwar in the cell. \"Was your shock so severe it
\naffected your memory?\" asked former judge Mahadev Shankar.<\/p>\n
The commission visited the detention cell at police
\nheadquarters on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Koh said he had been instructed to arrest Anwar under section
\n377(b) of the code, relating to sodomy. But he said he
\nerroneously cited section 377(d) when arresting him. He did not
\nelaborate on that section of the code.<\/p>\n
Koh said that later that night his superiors decided to charge
\nAnwar under the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite
\ndetention without trial. He said no reasons were given.<\/p>",
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