Stop the police pressure, cries Hindraf detainee

Source: MalaysiaKini

A Hindu Rights Action Force leader presently under the Internal Security Act detention has claimed that he was being pressured by the police to admit his involvement in terrorism activities.

T Vasanthakumar, Hindraf secretary when he was arrested on Dec 13, said that a team of police interrogators visited him at the Kamunting detention centre on Jan 15 and started accusing him of collecting money to fund such activities.

“They came to the detention centre and accused me of collecting funds for the purpose of conducting terrorism activities,” he said in a police report which he lodged at the Kamunting detention centre on the same day (Jan 15).

“They forced me to admit my involvement in these activities. These are baseless charges and accusations that are being levelled against me and the other four Hindraf leaders,” he said in the report.

Although the report was made on Jan 15, it was only now that the report was managed to be made available to Malaysiakini.

He added that the police team wanted him to admit to the terrorism charges.

“I got very angry and told them to just leave me alone,” added Vasanthakumar, 35.

“The terrorism accusation by the police is embarrassing and shocking. I see this as an attempt by the police to continue to pressure me to admit to charges that I did not commit,” he said.

Vasanthakumar, and four other Hindraf leaders - P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, R Kenghadharan and V Ganabathirau - were detained on Dec 13 on grounds that they were a threat to national security. They are serving out a two-year detention order.

Wife worried for husband

Further in his police report, Vasanthakumar said that the government had no basis to detain them under the ISA, especially by accusing them of having links with international terrorism group.

“The government and the police have no evidence to substantiate their accusations on our alleged terrorism links.

“As such they are now using the back way to obtain a confession from me by forcing me to admit of having terrorism link,” he added.

He stressed that the five of them had no terrorism links whatsoever and admitted of being under tremendous pressure as a result of being detained under the ISA.

He wants the prime minister and the inspector general of police to immediately put a stop to these pressuring tactics being employed by the police to elicit a false confession from him.

When contacted, Vasanthakumar’s wife K Vikneswary said that she was worried for her husband’s mental and health conditions.

“During my last visit, he seemed to be very down. He told me that he was under tremendous pressure and that he was undergoing mental torture,” she said.

“He told me about the police interrogation and the terrorism accusations and he felt that was very wrong,” she added.

She said that her husband was “in no way involved in terrorism activities”.

“I believe that he has been wrongly detained. I once again urge the government to release him from his detention. They will never find any evidence against him as he has not done anything wrong,” she said.