Motorist 'wrongly charged with attempted murder'

Hindraf de facto leader P Uthayakumar has appealed to Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail to withdraw a criminal prosecution against a man who has been charged with attempted murder of a policeman.

The suspect, A Raman, reportedly had crashed his car into a policeman riding a motorcycle before fleeing the scene.

In a letter representing Raman’s family, Uthayakumar (left) condemned the “abuse of prosecution” in this case, stressing that the heavy-handed response to the accident was akin to “hitting a fly with a sledgehammer”.

“This culture of prosecuting a citizen who had collided into a policeman in a road traffic accident can by no stretch of imagination be attempted murder,” he said in the letter.

Having no money for legal services or bail, Raman would be forced to plead guilty and serve time for attempted murder, Uthayakumar said, adding that the legal aid allocated by the government for low-wage earners has never materialised for him.

Uthayakumar, in his letter, requested the relevant documents pertaining to the matter be served onto the family, and for the criminal prosecution against his client to be withdrawn.

He said that “at worst (Raman) should have been prosecuted for negligent driving”.

When contacted by Malaysiakini, Uthayakumar clarified that Raman’s accident with the policeman occurred on March 16.

According to him, Raman (right) was driving a car on that day when he accidentally ran into a plainclothes policeman riding a motorcycle. Following the accident, the policeman took out his gun and charged at Raman.

Unaware that the victim was a policeman, Raman fled the scene out of fear.

He said it was an accident and simply a result of “negligent driving” rather than attempted murder.

The letter dated April 30 was also addressed to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, inspector-general of police Ismail Omar, Selangor chief police officer Tun Hisah Tun Hamzah, deputy head of the secretariat of the national police chief Hashim Abdul Jalil and officer in charge of police district Selayang Abdul Rahim Abdullah.

Seven policemen make arrest

According to the letter, at around 10.30pm on March 22 seven policemen barged into Raman’s house and arrested him.

In a police report attached to the letter, Raman’s mother G Letchmy describes how the policemen broke through the house’s grilled gate and windows and took her car keys and wallet.

“They were speaking rudely and being disrespectful to me... they warned (Raman) not to run or they would shoot him,” read the statement in Malay.

After Raman was arrested and detained at Kuala Kubu Baru police station, his family headed there to straighten out matters, only to be told that Raman was being accused in a hit-and-run case.

On April 30, the family was informed by the Selayang Sessions Court that after a remand period of 14 days, Raman was prosecuted on April 4 for the attempted murder of a policeman under Section 307 of the Penal Code.

He was also sent to the psychiatric institution Hospital Bahagia in Tanjung Rambutan the same day.

However, on April 22 he was brought back to the Selayang Sessions Court where he was ordered to be jailed in Sungai Buloh prison with his case fixed for mention on May 4.

In the interim, Letchmy had filed two police reports at Kuala Kubu Baru regarding the matter.

She had also fallen ill and suffered from chest pains as a result of the shock, said the letter.

When asked why Raman was first sent to a psychiatric hospital, Uthayakumar explained that Raman was a recovered mental patient who had been suffering from depression several years ago.

His family informed the police of his mental state in an attempt to defend him, he said.