KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 5): The two lower-ranking police officers are suing Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency director general Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain for assault and battery, over an incident caught on closed-circuit television camera.
The plaintiffs, Mohamad Faiz Saman, 40, and Muhammad Ekmal Sofwan, 25, are also named in Shuhaily’s criminal case, in which he was charged last month with voluntarily causing hurt.
At the time of the incident, the duo were with the special branch based in KLIA as Travel Control Officers (TCO).
Headbutted four times, ear pulled and head violently shaken
Muhammad Ekmal said that Shuhaily had committed battery by headbutting the defendant four times, causing him pain.
Mohamad Faiz pleaded that battery was done as Shuhaily pulled both of Muhammad's ears while violently shaking his head. He also experienced pain as a result of the act.
They claim that they had to seek treatment for their injuries in both government and private medical facilities.
They also added that they "felt distressed, anxious, fearful, apprehensive, intimidated, and threatened" by Shuhaily's body language and actions at the material time.
Shuhaily, they claimed, looked as though he was ready to attack them at any given time. This, they claim amounts to assault.
Officers also suing for false imprisonment and defamation
Besides assault and battery, the officers are also suing Shuhaily for false imprisonment and defamation.
They said that during the incident at KLIA on Sept 28, they were "detained" by [Shuhaily] for a period of five to 10 minutes, during which time they were "scolded, assaulted, and beaten".
"[The plaintiffs] plead that the defendant committed the tort of false imprisonment against them [...] this resulted in the [plaintiff's] right to freedom of movement being denied by the defendant throughout the said period, thereby restricting their freedom of movement," the document read.
They also claim that Shuhaily's comments at a press conference addressing the viral footage was defamatory.
They said Shuhaily had insinuated that the lower ranked officers presence at the location was to "disrupt official duties as well as to tarnish the image of Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS)".
The duo denied any such allegations and stressed that their presence at the scene of the incident was solely on the basis of official duty as travel control officers.
In the court document, the duo said that on the day of the incident, they were assigned to carry out coverage duties for any very important person (VIP) arriving at KLIA Terminal 1 from 9am to 9pm.
They added that Shuhaily was present in the vicinity to inspect the preparations by AKPS ahead of the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix race, which was slated to take place from Oct 2-4 at the Sepang International Circuit.
They added that around 1.30pm, they were assigned to carry out security coverage for Shuhaily's visit.
"While carrying out the said security coverage duties, [we] saw the defendant bringing one male civilian into an enclosed space at the end of Counter J, Level 5, Terminal 1, KLIA.
"While the defendant was carrying out the documentation inspection process, a tense situation arose in which the defendant loudly scolded and appeared to attempt to physically rough up the said civilian," they alleged.
Mohamad Faiz took photographs of the situation, he said, to serve as information as part of the ongoing security coverage assignment.
"Such information was not for any purpose other than official assignment use under the special branch of the police," the document read.
The two officers were reprimanded for their actions.
Duo’s lawyers say not suing government as Shuhaily acted on his own
Mohamad Faiz and Muhammad Ekmal said that the incident had caused them to suffer trauma, fear and a sense of insecurity, anxiety over their own and their families’ safety, emotional and mental distress, as well as embarrassment in front of family and friends.
Among other matters, they are seeking general, special, exemplary and aggravated damages.
Separately, in a press statement, the duo’s lawyers, Kamal Hisham Ja’afar and Muhammad Nor Tamrin, said they had not named the Malaysian government as a defendant because Shuhaily had acted in his personal capacity.
They added that their clients believed the judiciary was the appropriate platform to seek justice.