Two cops sue Shuhaily over alleged KLIA assault

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain has been sued by two policemen who accused him of assaulting them at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in September.

Lance Corporals Muhammad Ekmal Sofwan Dirman and Mohamad Faiz Muhamad Saman filed the suit at the Sepang Sessions Court yesterday, naming the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (MCBA) director-general as the sole defendant.

Their lawyers, Kamal Hisham Ja'afar and Muhammad Nor Tamrin, said the suit was filed against Shuhaily in his personal capacity, without naming the government as a defendant.

They said the suit involved four causes of action, namely false imprisonment, assault, battery and defamation.

The lawyers said the civil action followed Shuhaily's prosecution at the Sepang Magistrate's Court on Oct 21 under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.

Shuhaily had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on bail.

According to the statement of claim, both policemen were attached to the Special Branch at KLIA and were carrying out their duties as Travel Control Officers (TCO) when the alleged incident occurred on Sept 28.

They claimed they had been assigned to provide security coverage during Shuhaily's working visit to Terminal 1 to inspect preparations for the arrival of Formula One delegations.

The two allegedly witnessed Shuhaily angrily confronting a male civilian during a document inspection in an enclosed area near Counter J on Level 5 at 1.27pm.

Faiz then took photographs of the incident, which the plaintiffs claimed were intended solely for official Special Branch duties.

They alleged that MCBA deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Mohd Nasaruddin M. Nasir seized and inspected Faiz's mobile phone before bringing both policemen before Shuhaily.

The plaintiffs claimed Shuhaily became furious after learning that they were Special Branch officers.

They alleged that he questioned why they were monitoring MCBA activities before physically assaulting them.

The plaintiffs claimed Shuhaily headbutted Ekmal four times before approaching Faiz, pulling both his ears and violently shaking his head.

They alleged that the incident left them frightened, intimidated and fearing for their safety.

The plaintiffs also accused Shuhaily of defaming them during a press conference on Oct 1, when he spoke about the incident.

They claimed his remarks gave the public the impression that they had deliberately interfered with MCBA operations and recorded the incident with the intention of tarnishing the agency's reputation and his personal image.

They claimed that Shuhaily's remarks had damaged their reputation and caused them embarrassment among family members and colleagues.

They are seeking general, special, exemplary and aggravated damages, as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.