Police, Suhakam to discuss mobile phone checks

The Star

The Royal Malaysia Police and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will hold a meeting soon to discuss police checks on mobile phones of the public.  Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has tasked Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain to provide a clear explanation from a law enforcement perspective.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/mv43m8zf   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00With regards to safety and policies regarding safety,

00:04there has been a lot of fear among the public that the police can actually check their phone,

00:10stop on the roadblock and check and everything.

00:12IGP has made a statement saying that the law permits checking phone

00:16and he also said that contents such as obscene content, obscene materials and all that

00:21or suspicions of this person engaging in threatening communication, then they can do it.

00:27Wouldn't this also allow some form of abuse of power because a lot of reports have been made in lately

00:34and Suhakam has told the public to report to them if police stops anybody and checks their phone.

00:39How do you see this as a proper procedural matter rather than a threat to privacy?

00:46Let's be objective and be fair.

00:49First of all, I have asked the IGP to meet with Suhakam.

00:57He has an exchange of views to give a more accurate perspective

01:02on how the powers that be and the biggest laws in our country address this issue.

01:09Let Suhakam also understand in the context of the police's job.

01:14There are a lot of perspectives that we can look at.

01:19For example, the perspective of security.

01:23The police force cannot tolerate when there is a suspect who has information about terrorism.

01:35It is risky for us to think that there is a possibility for the police to have that information.

01:44The law does not allow the police to check their devices.

01:48So what do we do?

01:50Putting yourself into a police position, what do we do?

01:54All the intelligence reports are zoomed in.

01:57This is an individual who has been suspected of being involved in activities outside of the country.

02:04And our intelligence detects that he is already here.

02:08And he has access to this.

02:11The law does not allow us to check.

02:15So that is the situation where there needs to be a law that allows us to check our devices.

02:25Do you agree?

02:27I think he said that there is a law to do it, but the degree of checking...

02:31Yes, that is the issue.

02:33That is why I said, let it be fair.

02:36Suhakam addresses the issue from the perspective of fundamental rights and protects the people from violations.

02:43That is why I said, the most wise and wise way to address this issue...

02:49...is to ask the IJP to sit down, discuss and explain first.

02:53And Suhakam, I am sure, can help the community, to educate the community...

02:58...in carrying out this task.

03:00The police are not a group of people who walk around and say,

03:03Hey come, pass me your handphone, I want to check.

03:06It is not like that.

03:07Of course, there are rules and regulations.

03:10There are laws that provide local police stand-by.

03:14In the situation that I gave an example earlier.

03:17It is not a question, but if there is a bomb,

03:20and it is a public place,

03:22suddenly the police come and call,

03:24immediately, without any basis.

03:26Of course, we have to address issues like that.

03:29That is why I said, let this discussion not come out of the actual purpose.

03:37So that the police do not see that this is a group of people who do not care at all...

03:45...about the rules and regulations.

03:47They can just look at any Tom, Dick and Harry.

03:49If they feel like taking the phone, they can just take it.

03:51No, we do not act like that.

03:54When a decision is made to conduct an investigation,

03:58there must be a basis to it.

04:00At the same time, there is concern among the public.

04:03The police must also be respected.

04:06The police must be respected.

04:08So the situation is not like the police can arrest anyone they want.

04:14No, we do not act like that.

04:16One action must have a basis in terms of the law.

04:21If it is true, I gave an example earlier,

04:23an extreme example earlier.

04:25The police have a basis through the investigation,

04:28that we need to get access to this information.

04:32And that is what is happening right now.

04:34The cases that we do, we are able to solve them.

04:38We are able to solve them.

04:40After we get the information from the investigation.

04:44And that action, that action must have a basis in terms of the law.

04:48To address the concern among the public,

04:51which was brought by Suhakam,

04:54I have talked to the State Attorney General,

04:56or the IGP Attorney General,

04:58to sit down and discuss,

05:00to get the information from Suhakam.

05:02Suhakam also needs to determine,

05:05what is the scope,

05:08the task that allows the police to conduct an investigation.

05:11Could you tell the public then,

05:13what could they do,

05:14how can they report to the police,

05:16if they find that their privacy has been violated,

05:18or randomly checked.

05:20What are the channels they can use?

05:22In a month, we have 395,000 police reports made by the public.

05:26So what is stopping them?

05:28There is nothing stopping them.

05:30395,000 police reports in a month.

05:34So I ask, what can they do?

05:38If they feel that their rights have been violated,

05:41and they have a basis to investigate,

05:44it is normal for them to report to the police.

05:48There is nothing stopping them.

05:58For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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