
The prisons department commissioner-general told a public inquiry into alleged rights abuses at Taiping prison that his officers never behaved like gangsters in the discharge of their duties.
Abdul Aziz Abdul Razak said mistreating inmates was not part of the department’s culture, adding that prisoners were managed in line with internationally accepted minimum standards, known as the Nelson Mandela Rule.
Aziz insisted that the Jan 17 incident which led to the death of detainee Gan Chin Eng was an isolated incident.
“How many reports (about assault) come from Taiping prison in a year?” he said.
“This incident, which was caused by a few individuals, has tarnished the prisons department’s image.”
Inquiry chairman Hishamudin Yunus then pointed out that CCTV recordings showed prison…