I refer to the news report on a 38-year old thief who was beaten by some members of the public after he was arrested by citizens in Bukit Mertajam yesterday. He passed away later in the hospital.
I want to express my utmost regret that some chose to take justice into their own hands acting like vigilantes and attacking the thief who was already arrested and had his hands and feet tied up. A heroic incident of citizen arrest had turned into an ugly moral tragedy because some people cannot practice self-restraint.
Citizen arrest is lawful but there must be restraint in the use of force
Citizen arrest is provided by the law and all citizens should play an active role in crime prevention and crime fighting together with the Royal Malaysian Police (Polis Diraja Malaysia – PDRM). Citizen arrest is provided under Section 27 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, and although the private person making the arrest may use reasonable force, the law also gave warning to any persons whether police officer or otherwise not to cause death when making an arrest of a person who is not accused of an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment. Although some may plead ignorance of the law, it is logical to assume that in the case above, theft of a handphone is not a crime punishable by death.
Any arrest shall without unnecessary delay be handed over to the nearest police officer or in the absence of a police officer, take such person to the nearest police station.
Even police officers are not allowed to take justice into their own hands. Arrested criminals regardless of offences must be tried in the courts, given a fair hearing, and be subjected to punishment provided by the laws of our country. To beat up an arrested thief should not have happened in a civilised society, especially in Malaysia where we are disgusted to live under a regime which inflicted pains on the people through various power abuses, not least incidents of death in custody.
Take action against perpetrators but do not punish all voluntary citizen groups
Voluntary groups and many concerned citizens are doing their best to assist the police in crime prevention and make our society a safer place for all.
However, when some individuals cannot practice restraint and act outside the power provided by the law, it will give a bad name to others especially voluntary citizen groups which are actively involved in crime prevention.
I hope the authority will take the necessary action against the perpetrators but will also refrain from punishing or painting a bad picture against all voluntary groups or those involved in citizenry policing just because of a few bad apples.
Finally, I want to advise all parties involved to practice self restraint when it comes to community policing and citizen arrest.