Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) wants police personnel responsible for P Karuna Nithi's death - he died while in police custody - to be prosecuted.

Calling upon the authorities to act swiftly on the matter, LFL executive director Eric Paulsenthe said the policemen responsible should be brought to justice.

“Serious action should be taken against them through criminal charges, or at the very least they should be sacked from the police force,” he said in a statement today.

This comes after the Seremban Coroner’s Court today closed for the second time the inquest into Karuna Nithi’s death.

The inquest was re-opened on Oct 13, last year, to introduce the testimony of Kuala Lumpur Hospital senior forensic pathologist Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood, after the Health Ministry convened a one-day inquiry committee of forensic pathologists to discuss the inquest verdict.

Coroner Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, however, found there was no new material evidence produced by Mohd Shah.

“I did not find Dr Mohd Shah and the inquiry committee’s report reliable or credible,” said Jagjit in his judgment.

The coroner was satisfied that the cause of Karuna Nithi’s death remains the same, among others, by a combination of unlawful acts and omissions by person or persons unknown, inclusive of police officers and other detainees in the police lock-up where the deceased was detained.

Meanwhile, Paulsen, who acted for the deceased’s family in the case, expressed concern that the authorities had taken such unusual approach as the inquiry committee had acted "like an appellate court to review the findings of the coroner".

“The inquiry report itself is not new evidence in law but clearly an afterthought and unfair tactic designed to alter the original verdict and findings of the Coroner's Court that were not favourable to them.”

Paulsen also pointed out how Karuna Nithi’s death could have been avoided had the authorities taken action for the many previous deaths in custody.

“Unfortunately, the authorities’ inaction is symptomatic of a framework of institutionalised impunity where a detainee can die in police custody and there will be little recourse or accountability.

“Even in cases where the inquests have found the police to be criminally concerned, the state is still reluctant to hold law enforcement personnel accountable for the unlawful killings. Instead, a ‘blue wall of silence’ builds up to frustrate all attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

He urged the chief justice, the attorney-general and the inspector-general of police to take more seriously issues that involved state violence especially extrajudicial killings.

“They must be particularly vigilant against the serious abuse of police powers that sidesteps the criminal justice process and takes on the role of judge, jury and executioner.

“We reiterate our calls for the government to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police (May 2005), by setting up an independent police complaints and misconduct commission (IPCMC) to function as an independent and external oversight body to investigate complaints about police personnel.”

Altercation with wife

Karuna Nithi, an engineer, was first remanded at the Tampin district police station in late May 2013 following an altercation with his wife and was held further when his family could not raise his bail after he was charged in court.

The 42-year-old was found dead in a lock-up at the Tampin district police headquarters on June 1, 2013, and an inquest was ordered.

On Jan 28, 2015, the Seremban Coroner's Court ruled that Karuna Nithi's cause of death was the result of assaults by both policemen and other lock-up detainees.

Jagjit, then, had noted that Karuna Nithi had 49 injuries - mostly bruises - all over his body.

CCTV footage of the police lock-up showed, among others, a policeman opening the door to Karuna Nithi's cell and kicking him hard enough for him to stumble backwards and fall.

Other footage showed the assaults the deceased had suffered at the hands of his fellow inmates, during which he was punched and kicked.