The social rights group Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) has released dashcam footage showing a disabled ehailing driver being assaulted by a VIP's security personnel, an incident that sparked public outrage in May.
At a press conference on Wednesday (Aug 14), LFL adviser N. Surendran stated that the video, which captures the May 28 assault, has been submitted to the police, and urged the authorities to take the matter seriously.
The victim, 46-year-old Ong Ing Keong, who has filed two police reports, expressed through a sign language interpreter that he is still waiting for justice.
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At a press conference on Wednesday (Aug 14), LFL adviser N. Surendran stated that the video, which captures the May 28 assault, has been submitted to the police, and urged the authorities to take the matter seriously.
The victim, 46-year-old Ong Ing Keong, who has filed two police reports, expressed through a sign language interpreter that he is still waiting for justice.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/46ncsyft
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today's press conference was called regarding the assault upon Mr Ong that occurred on the
00:1428th of May 2024. I think you all know about this assault. It was a matter of national
00:25news. Mr Ong was assaulted by the escort to a VVIP. At that time, he was doing his
00:36job as an e-hailing driver. He was picking up his passengers when it happened. As I said,
00:47this happened on the 28th of May 2024. Now, on the 5th of June 2024, the IGP made a statement
00:56saying that the investigations have been done and the investigation papers have been forwarded
01:06to the Attorney General. That was on the 5th of June, which is just about slightly above
01:13a week from the time of the incident. Today is the 14th of August, which is almost two
01:24and a half months after this shocking incident took place. As you all know, no one has been
01:36arrested, no one has been charged for committing any kind of offence in relation to the assault
01:48against Mr Ong. Why is that? And we, either the lawyers or Mr Ong himself, have not been
02:05told or given any reason why no action has been taken so far. For a clear assault case
02:18like this, two and a half months is a very long time without action. No one has been
02:26brought to justice. We have written to the Attorney General directly on behalf of Mr Ong
02:41and urged the Attorney General to take the necessary action to ensure that justice is done.
02:59Until today, we have not received any reply. So, we have done everything we can to pursue
03:17and follow up this matter with the authorities. This is also a public interest matter. It
03:24involved the assault upon a disabled person while carrying out his daily work. I mean,
03:35assault like that should not happen against anyone. But he was a disabled person. He is
03:40deaf and he is mute and he works very hard. He works six days a week from 6.30 a.m. until 7.00
03:51a.m. He did not deserve what happened to him. Today, we are going to show you clear evidence
04:00that an assault did take place, if ever there was any doubt of that. And that there should
04:09have been swift action taken in this case, a swift prosecution. What we are going to show
04:16you today is taken from the dashcam video of Mr Ong's vehicle at the time that the incident
04:24happened. It is unedited. It is the original. Now, this dashcam video has already been given
04:35to the police authorities on the very night of the incident on 28 May 2024. The police have
04:46had this evidence for the past two and a half months and surely it would have formed part of
04:52the IP or investigation paper that was sent to the Attorney General. Now, that is the original
05:00video. It is not edited and it belongs, of course, to Mr Ong, taken from his dashcam video. It has
05:11been a very traumatic event for Mr Ong because he was just doing his job and, of course, it is a
05:26bit emotional for him. Now, it was quite, I think it was quite a hard and painful punch for him.
05:38And you can see he went to a clinic after that, a hospital, GHK Health. He received treatment for
05:48that and he also suffered from some bleeding at his lips. Mr Anthony, who is the president of the
05:57Deaf Advocacy Group, had also sent a memorandum to the Attorney General's office about three weeks
06:08ago, on the 19th of July, also asking that action be taken in this very clear case of assault. And
06:21also they have received no response. In this country, under our Constitution, everyone is
06:31before the law and each individual, each citizen has the equal protection of the law. If harm is
06:42done to anyone, then the system must work, the criminal justice system must work. The investigation
06:49must be done promptly and where there is clear evidence, action must be taken expeditiously,
06:57without delay. Now, I do not know what is the reason. In the face of evidence as clear as that,
07:07no one has been brought to court or to justice for this assault upon Mr Ong. You have seen the video,
07:16it is clearly someone from the escort who did it. His identity is known to the investigative body.
07:26So, why have charges not been brought until today? We urge the authorities, the police,
07:35the Attorney General's office and the government to take this matter seriously and to ensure that
07:46justice is done to Mr Ong In Kyo. Not just because he is disabled, not just because he is an ordinary
07:57hardworking Malaysian, but because that is the right thing under our laws and our Constitution
08:03and our justice system. The public expects this, the people expect this, the right must be done.
08:14We have the tissues here and we can only cry and feel very frustrated and shout out,
08:26but we are voiceless. You see, we don't have the mics in front of us.
08:33We are a vulnerable group. Before the police, you know, we hear stories of cover-ups and all
08:50that and we are appreciative of all the social media. We also know sometimes the media has some
08:59form of restriction. So, where is the justice? Do you think that the authorities or anyone
09:08that tries to intimidate Mr Ong, for example, by using this press conference, by revealing this
09:16clip which is part of the evidence? Well, the investigation has already concluded. The IGP
09:27himself has said that the papers have been sent to the Attorney General. Our question today is that
09:34why is there no action after that? Why has no one been brought to justice? And how can revealing
09:42evidence be regarded as something improper or underhand? This is the dashcam video belonging
09:49to Mr Ong and what we are showing is to show that an offence has been committed. So, there's nothing
09:56wrong with it at all. In fact, we are bound to bring this to the attention of the public because
10:02where there has been a crime committed and action has yet been taken, it is our duty and our right
10:11to call for that action to be taken, to call upon the authorities, to call upon the government to
10:17carry out their duties and ensure justice is done. After almost two months and a half since the
10:23incident, I wanted to ask Mr Ong, what does he feel? Is the trauma getting better or worse?
10:43I'm still waiting for justice and I'm not sure we are waiting and waiting and I really hope that
10:50the suspect will be brought to justice or will be brought to court for trial. I've shown my face
10:59in all the media and why I am brave enough to show my face and why the suspect where the police know
11:12about it but have not been brought to justice, have not been revealed. I feel very depressed for
11:24the prolonged silence of this incident. This moment before Mr Ong was punched by the alleged
11:37bodyguard, he was trying to communicate with whom and what was he trying to communicate with?
11:45Who was the one telling him to come back to that point? Okay, I was waiting for the bag booth to
11:53be closed because our clients were putting the bag and he was telling the police, wait, there's one
12:01more coming in at the back. From the side? From the side, yeah. The passengers were getting in the
12:07car and the doors opened so he told the police, you know, at the back, his passengers are coming
12:16in because he wants to take care of the client's safety. So the police was wearing suit and tie.
12:31It was a black shirt or black attire, black attire. Not uniform? I'm not sure because it was too fast.
12:47Did the police know the full communication about this?
12:54Yes, I did.
12:54When he went the following day to the police station, I accompanied him and a very detailed
13:04statement was taken by the police at that time and he gave very detailed evidence. He also gave
13:11very detailed evidence to the Bukit Aman Disciplinary Unit, CHIPS they call it. So
13:18he has given and all the evidence in his hand including this has already been given to them.
13:22So they have everything, they know everything.