Duo held in Nurin case sue cops and govt

KUALA LUMPUR: A textile shop owner and his brother-in-law, who were suspects in the Nurin Jazlin Jazimin abduction and murder two years ago, are suing the Government and police for wrongful arrest and trespass.

Mohamad Zamri Ibrahim, 35, and former engineer, Mohd Suhaimi Yusoff, 30, claimed that they want to clear their names which were tarnished due to the arrest and detention.

Zamri said he had been traumatised over the incident and wanted to file the suit to uphold the dignity of his family.

He said police should have checked their family and education background before making the arrest which had brought him embarrassment, trauma and pain.

The father of three claimed they were arrested due to a text message that had been sent out by certain quarters to frame them.

“We regret the manner in which police arrested and assaulted us following public pressure to settle the Nurin case. We want people to know that we are not involved at all in this high profile case and clear their misconceptions against us,” he told reporters after the filing Friday.

Eight-year-old Nurin went missing on Aug 20, 2007 after going to a night market alone near her home in Wangsa Maju. Her naked body was found stuffed in a sports bag and left outside a shoplot in Petaling Utama on Sept 17, 2007.

Zamri said his accountant wife, Norhaniyah Yusof, 35, was eight-months pregnant when she was asked by the police to follow them in another car in order to record her statement over the case.

Norhaniyah said her brother, Suhaimi, had not recovered from the incident.

Their lawyer Azmer Md Saad filed the suit at the Sessions Court civil registry at 9:19am on Friday.

“We want the court to assess the damages, costs and relief over the matter, but it will not be more than RM250,000,” said Azmer.

The two plaintiffs had named investigating officer ASP Loh Pei Pei, the Inspector-General of Police and the Government as defendants.

In a statement of claim filed Friday, Zamri said he was pulled out of his car by the police at 11:30pm on Sept 27, 2007, handcuffed and beaten up.

In a statement of claim also filed on Friday, Suhaimi stated that a man who introduced himself as a policeman had pointed a pistol to him when he was working at Zamri’s textile shop in Shah Alam on that day.

Suhaimi claimed that he was slapped and assaulted by the police, causing him severe pain.

The policemen, he said, kept asking him where he had allegedly kept an obscene VCD and where Nurin was being confined. Suhaimi said he was hit by the policemen although he told them he was unaware of Nurin’s whereabouts.

He said he was informed by ASP Loh that he was a suspect in the murder and was interrogated for several hours before being taken to Bukit Aman to be remanded.

He also said he had complained to a magistrate over the assault and was referred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment. He lodged a police report on Sept 29, 2007.