Customs officer: I was beaten and forced to confess
By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — A Customs officer who was among those arrested in a recent crackdown on corruption in the Customs Department said he was beaten and forced to confess to taking bribes.
Abdul Rahim Abdul Kadir, 41, told a coroner’s inquest into the death of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed that he was detained by the MACC from April 1 to 5. The two were among those arrested in the swoop.
“The officers raised their voices and snarled at me, and even threatened me so I would confess,” Abdul Rahim said.
He said he was hit on the head during questioning on April 4 and he wasn’t allowed to perform his prayers.
Ahmad Sarbaini, the Selangor Customs assistant director, was found dead after he was believed to have fallen from the pantry on the third floor of the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6 and landed on the badminton court on the first floor.
Ahmad Sarbaini had confessed on April 4 to accepting between RM50 and RM100 a month from Schenker Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd officer Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Zaki as well as between RM30 and RM200 a month from a Top Mark Freight & Shipping Sdn Bhd officer called Ah Seng.
