Perak Man Falsely Accused Of Drug Possession Compensated RM240,000 By Ipoh High Court
Iekmal Hisham Harun was wrongfully imprisoned for 106 days.
By Jasmine Chea — 07 Feb 2023, 12:53 PM
A Perak man was recently compensated RM240,000 by the Ipoh High Court, after he was wrongfully imprisoned for 106 days under false charges of drug possession and trafficking in 2016
According to Free Malaysia Today, Iekmal Hisham Harun was arrested on 9 November 2016 for allegedly possessing 36.5g of heroin.
He was remanded and charged for drug trafficking, where he was immediately detained at the Tapah prison in Perak, as it was a non-baliable offence.
He was only freed from prison over a year later on 12 December 2017.
As Iekmal was only charged with three counts of drug possession on 7 March 2017, the plaintiff had filed a claim for damages for wrongful imprisonment between 21 November 2016 and 7 March 2017.
Iekmal also claimed damages as the police officer handling his case had carried out her public duty wrongfully and that he suffered as a consequence
Former police inspector Siti Nor Fauziah Setapa, who was previously attached to the Manjung district police headquarters, was assigned as the investigating officer for Iekmal's case and was found to have forged investigation documents.
Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) How May Ling lodged a police report against Siti on 23 February 2017, accusing the inspector of forging her and two other officers' signatures on several investigation papers, in which information were also found to be falsified.
The inspector was eventually convicted and sacked from her position on 14 April 2020.
She did not contest the suit.
After six years, Justice Bhupindar Singh granted Iekmal compensation for unlawful detention, abuse of power, and costs
The judge said that Iekmal had sufficiently proved himself innocent of the charges and will be monetarily compensated for his troubles.
Iekmal initially requested for RM3 million in damages but Justice Bhupindar denied the claim to avoid unjustly enriching the plaintiff.
He also said, the other defendants named by Iekmal — Perak's chief police officer, the inspector-general of police, and the government — should be held liable for Siti's acts and conduct.
"The act [forgery] was also done by Siti when she was carrying out her official duties. I cannot accept the argument that she was on a frolic of her own," Justice Bhupindar said in his 40-page judgment.
