KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police think that the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill is worth supporting, but with conditions.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said they agreed with Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador to support the Bill but that the select committee should amend some terms and improve various conditions in it.

 "There is a need to improve and review existing laws, constitutional matters, logistics, welfare of policemen and other things first," he said after a public hearing on the Bill here Sunday (Nov 10). He also described some sections in the proposed Bill as being draconian, unfair to policemen and not practising the separation of powers.

Explaining this, Omar said under existing laws, an accused has the right to remain silent or choose not to answer a question during interrogation if he finds that it could be detrimental to his case.

He said this was unfair to the accused person when it should be fair both ways.

Omar also pointed out that in the IPCMC Bill, the committee can receive complaints, conduct their investigations before charging or penalising a suspect by themselves.

"There is no separation of power. This is unfair to the accused. This has to be refined," he said.

He said all these matters should be taken into account and fine-tuned before the Bill is tabled in Parliament.

With regards to the proposed 10 committee members to head the commission, Omar hoped to see that at least one is from the police force or even an ex-policemen.

Earlier in the event, the chairman of the parliamentary Special Select Committee tasked with looking into the draft legislation, Ramkarpal Singh, said that public feedback has been positive so far.

"We still have a few more sessions in Kuala Lumpur to attend to before we can finalise our report, taking into account what has been suggested by those who participated," he said.

He said they expect to complete and hand in their report to the government by Dec 18.

More than 100 participants comprising those from the security forces, political parties such as SAPP (opposition) and Upko were present for the public hearing.

Previous public hearings on this Bill had been held in Kuching, Sarawak (Oct 26), Penang (Nov 2) and Johor (Nov 8).

Sumber : The Star Online