Police can kill in defence
Police officers are entitled to kill or injure innocent persons as long as they genuinely believe lives are in danger, said the Home Ministry.
By Ding Jo-Ann, The Nut Graph
PETALING JAYA, 26 May 2010: Police officers are entitled to kill or injure innocent persons as long as they genuinely believe lives are in danger, said the Home Ministry.
In a letter to The Nut Graph dated 17 May 2010, the ministry said: “Although police officers’ actions may result in death or injury to innocent persons or are not fully sanctioned under the law, they would still be entitled to act. This is on the condition that their intentions are sincere and they genuinely believe that their lives or the lives of those they are protecting are in danger.”
The letter was signed by Habsah Md Sidek from the ministry’s public security and order division on behalf of the ministry secretary-general.
The ministry added that police officers were fully trained and exposed in the use of, and circumstances in which, they could discharge their firearms. This included the aspect of self-defence.
Written guidelines
While the ministry’s response provided more information than its previous communication with The Nut Graph, the response however made no mention of the Inspector-General Standing Orders (IGSO) on the use of firearms. Instead it only referred to provisions under the Penal Code.
Unlike the Penal Code, however, which applies generally to anyone acting in self-defence, the IGSO applies specifically to the police. Information about IGSO, however, has not been forthcoming.
