Dr V. Navin Esavik came prepared for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) public inquiry into alleged human rights violations at Taiping Prison on Jan 17. He had handwritten notes and could recall the exact time he called Taiping Hospital to report a “mass casualty incident” at 5.46pm, ensuring the hospital was ready.
However, he soon faltered under questioning by Suhakam assisting inquiry officer Sheril Aina Ahmad Salihin, prompting a rebuke from Suhakam chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus. After fumbling some dates and showing memory lapses, Mohd Hishamudin told Dr Navin: “You wouldn’t have this problem if you did your work properly.”
Mohd Hishamudin was frustrated by Dr Navin’s inability to confirm whether about 100 inmates transferred from Batu Gajah Correctional Facilities on Jan 10 had undergone health screenings – a mandatory procedure for all transfers and court arrivals.
Sheril Aina: If you follow the procedure, how quickly must health screenings be completed?
Dr Navin: Within 24 hours.
Sheril Aina: Batu Gajah sent around 100 inmates a week before Jan 16. Was a screening done for them?
Dr Navin: I’m unsure how many.
Sheril Aina: There were about 100 inmates.
Dr Navin: I think we did.
Sheril Aina: Your medical assistant, Muhammad Fadhil Mohamad Yusoff, said no screenings were done. Can you explain?
Dr Navin: If they were transferred from the documentation class, they should have undergone screening.
Sheril Aina: So, you’re saying the Jan 10 inmates were not screened?
Dr Navin: I’m not sure. I think they were.
Mohd Hishamudin: Can that happen without your knowledge?
Dr Navin: If I’m not around, the MA will conduct the screening.
Mohd Hishamudin: Your MA said it wasn’t done. How can this happen without your approval?
Dr Navin: I think we did, as we need to know inmates’ conditions. Anything could happen – illness, comorbidities, or heart disease.
Mohd Hishamudin: So you presumed they were screened.
Dr Navin: Yes.
Sheril Aina: Did you check with your MA?
Dr Navin: I don’t remember. I don’t have my logbook with me.
Dr Navin also testified that it was unusual for so many inmates to arrive on the same day.
Mohd Hishamudin was also perplexed as to why Dr Navin used the words “hostile” and “riot” in his Feb 28 referral letter to Taiping Hospital for an inmate named Santosh Raja L. Durairaju.
Mohd Hishamudin: Where did you get that your patient was hostile and started a riot? Who told you?
Dr Navin: From him. He said something to the warden, not so nice. I assumed.
Mohd Hishamudin: So Santosh told you himself? Not the wardens or officers?
Dr Navin: Yes.
Sheril Aina: He admitted being rude to the officer?
Dr Navin: Yes.
Mohd Hishamudin: Hard to believe he said he started a riot.
Dr Navin: He said he started a fight with the warden, later said he argued with officers.
Mohd Hishamudin: Yet you labelled it a riot in your letter over a month later? That’s wrong. CCTV shows inmates did not riot; if anything, wardens did.
Sheril Aina: Was it necessary to include that in the referral?
Dr Navin: I wanted to indicate the inmate was a security threat.
Sheril Aina: Did anyone instruct you to write that?
Dr Navin: No.
Sheril Aina: This medical card for Harjit Singh Tarlock Singh shows Jan 17 corrected from Jan 22. When did you treat him?
Dr Navin: I treated him often for a fungal infection.
Mohd Hishamudin: Jan 17 seems superimposed. Original looks like Jan 22.
Dr Navin: I don’t think I did this.
Sheril Aina: Can you confirm the card was tampered with?
Dr Navin: Perhaps.
Mohd Hishamudin: By someone else?
Dr Navin: Yes.
Sheril Aina: To show treatment on Jan 17?
Dr Navin: Yes. I treated him for soft tissue injuries that day.
More damagingly, Dr Navin was unable to explain the discrepancy in his account of what happened to inmate Gan Chin Eng, who died on January 17.
He initially claimed there was only a five-minute wait for the prison van to transport Gan to Taiping Hospital. However, two inmates who had helped carry Gan reported that the wait lasted more than 30 minutes. CCTV footage later confirmed their account, showing that at least 30 minutes had passed before Gan was taken to the hospital.
Sheril Aina: Do you agree it might have been 30 minutes or more?
Dr Navin: I don’t want to comment.
Mohd Hishamudin: No comment?
Dr Navin: Yes, no comment.
Other lapses included:
• Denying he gave Gan’s health record to Taiping Hospital, despite hospital records indicating receipt from the prison doctor. He later suggested the hospital might have called his clinic.
• Claiming two inmates told him Gan fell in the toilet, but the inmates denied this.
• An inmate, S. Jeyenthiran, said Dr Navin instructed him to say he fell down stairs, not mention beatings when speaking to Taiping Hospital staff; Dr Navin denied this.
• Dr Navin labelled the inmate as involved in a riot.
• Dr Navin stated he joined about 10 prison officials to view theJan 17 CCTV footage, likely in June, but could not recall the exact date or attendees apart from an officer named Hasbi.
The purpose was to prepare for the Suhakam inquiry starting June 12. Prison officers had viewed the footage at least twice beforehand.
On July 23, Inspector Muhamad Mustakhim Abdul Rahim testified he and four others watched it “to refresh their memories” before testifying.
Dr Navin will continue his testimony at Suhakam headquarters tomorrow.
