KUALA LUMPUR: A self-employed man has lost his RM2mil civil claim against the police and the Government for wrongfully identifying his attacker during a Bersih rally in 2007.
Aleyasak Hamid @ Hassan, 39, had claimed that he was attacked by Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel during a protest rally in Jalan Tun Perak on Nov 10, 2007.
High Court Judicial Commissioner Azizul Azmi Adnan dismissed the suit after ruling it was not fair to give a judgment in favour of Aleyasak.
“I am of the view that the plaintiff is bound to his claim which alleged that the attacks on him were done by the FRU.
“What could have possibly occurred was that the plaintiff was attacked by other police personnel whom he thought was the FRU,” said JC Azizul in his judgment.
JC Azizul said this was based on evidence given by commanding officer for FRU personnel in Dataran Merdeka, Nasaruddin Zahari, who testified that there were other policemen including Light Strike Force (LSF) members at the rally.
He said the court found that it was not impossible for the public to make a mistake in identifying LSF personnel as FRU or otherwise.
He said although Aleyasak’s counsel Latheefa Koya had submitted that the claim had stated in general that he was attacked by police, the plaintiff had specifically referred to FRU in many parts in his lawsuit.
He added, however, that the court held that Aleyasak to be an honest witness and his evidence in the trial was acceptable.
“I accept Aleyasak’s evidence that a policeman had stepped on the back of his left kneecap causing it to be broken,” said JC Azizul, adding that Aleyasak could also not identify the policeman who had allegedly assaulted him at the rally.
JC Azizul also rejected Aleyasak’s claim that his detention by the police was invalid.
He held, however, that Aleyasak could bring a civil action against the government based on the facts of the case.
In his suit filed on Aug 17, 2010, Aleyasak had named city police chief, Dang Wangi police chief, Inspector-General of Police and the Government as defendants.
Among others, Aleyasak claimed that he was repeatedly stepped on and kicked by FRU personnel and that they had used vulgarities on him.
-The Star, M. Mageswari