PETALING JAYA: A pub customer detained in a police raid in Bangsar has alleged that police failed to comply with Covid-19 health and safety protocols when they took him and 67 others to the police station to be issued a compound notice for allegedly flouting RMCO rules.
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The 26-year-old complainant, a former bar manager, told FMT: “I refuse to pay the RM1,000 compound until we get justice. We complied with the SOPs, but the police themselves are not following the SOPs like they should.”
He also complained that police had ordered him to delete video recordings and photographs he had taken during the raid on Saturday night, and questioned what right they had to do so.
He also questioned why police had kept his identity card for five hours, from the time he was detained until he was released.
The man, who asked not to be identified, said he went back to the Brickfields police headquarters on Sunday to lodge a report which outlined his dissatisfaction at being transported to the station in a lorry packed with about 30 people.
He complained that police did not carry out temperature checks, or record details for contact tracing or ensure that physical distancing rules were met while the detainees were at the police station.
Police told us to shut up and get in, says complainant
“When we asked why they did not practise physical distancing when they asked us to enter the truck, they told us to ‘Shut up and get in’ as they said we had not practised physical distancing in the bar,” he said.
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He said he and his companions had followed all the procedures while they were at the bar, and were about to leave when police arrived.
He said he was unsure why he was detained as the compound notice only stated that he violated an RMCO order, which he denied. He also questioned why police had taken all 68 people to the station merely to issue a compound notice.
Contacted by FMT, Brickfields police chief Zairulnizam Mohd Zainuddin did not confirm or deny the complainant’s allegations that police did not follow the SOPs during the raid.
The complainant, recounting the events on Saturday, said he and five companions were seated at two outdoor tables while at the pub. They had already paid the bill and were leaving when they were detained, together with the rest of the customers.
Why did the pub let in so many people?
He said police alleged the patrons were not practising physical distancing, but he pointed out that the bar had not been crowded when his group were first seated.
He said it was not up to patrons to control the crowd as the night went by, and questioned why the pub management had allowed more people than the premises could accommodate.
Pubs and nightclubs have been ordered to close since the movement control order (MCO) came into force in March. On Aug 28, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said such outlets would remain closed for the duration of the RMCO because of difficulties in implementing SOPs.
Despite warnings by other government leaders that such premises should remain closed for now, patrons at such establishments make up most of the numbers detained daily for not following SOPs, with arrests reaching a record high of 600 people on Aug 31.
The man says he was not aware of the ruling about pubs and nightclubs. -FMT