Chronology of events leading to the Squatgate inquiry
- Nov 17: Three women tourists from China alleged that they were detained by police on Nov 3 and brought to the Petaling Jaya police station where they were forced to strip. The women, accompanied by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, lodged a report on the incident to the Human Rights Caucus.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz described the incident as “very shameful”.
“We’ll give the police time to investigate but if something negative comes up, the caucus would bring this matter to the highest level,” said Nazri, who is also the Human Rights Parliamentary Caucus chairman.
- Nov 18: Police interviewed a Chinese national who claimed she and two others were forced to strip by police officers after being detained on Nov 3.
Petaling Jaya OCPD Assistant Commissioner Mohd Hazam Abdul Halim confirmed that Yu Xue Zhen had been interviewed over the report she had lodged on Nov 13 at the PJ police headquarters.
The interview followed a statement by Nazri that police should be fair in investigations into the report.
Nov 23: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave a strong message to the police to stop harassing women tourists from China.
Nov 24: A video clip showing a naked woman doing squats in the nude while a policewoman watched had the MPs abuzz at the lobby of Parliament House.
This came at a time when the Government was sending Home Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid to China to assure Beijing that its nationals were not ill-treated in Malaysia.
The video clip, shown by Kok on her laptop, drew the attention of Azmi, Nazri and Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad.
PJ police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Hazam Abdul Halim denied that images of a naked woman were taken at the district police headquarters lock-up.
- Nov 25: Abdullah and his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, expressed outrage over the treatment of the woman in the video clip, and demanded that those responsible be punished.
Several NGOs also expressed indignation, saying the incident smacked of torture.
Police began investigations into the origin of a video clip. They interviewed 23-year-old Goh Hwee Liang, a reporter from China Press, for about an hour.
Nov 26: The Government gave an assurance that the naked woman in the video clip saga would be protected if she comes forward to give evidence. The protection will be given regardless of whether she entered the country legally or otherwise.
Nov 28: Abdullah apologises for the incident and says that Malaysia does not have a policy of profiling China nationals who visit Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Kok, accompanied by lawyer Sankaran Nair, was called by police to have her statement recorded over the nude video clip taken at a district police headquarters lock-up.
Kok spoke with senior investigating officer Assistant Superintendent Naemah Mohd Shariff for 30 minutes.
- Nov 28: An independent body was set up to investigate the incident.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Noh Omar came out strongly in defence of the police, saying their action was in accordance with the rules and regulations.
- Nov 29: China broke its silence on the degrading treatment suffered by a female detainee in a police station, urging Malaysia to punish those responsible for the act and to protect Chinese visitors.
Meanwhile, the three China nationals re-enacted their ordeal for the investigators.
Housewives Gu Xiu Hua and Yu, and college student Wu Xiao Hua made several other damaging claims: that money belonging to one of them was stolen during their detention, and that a policeman gawked at one of them and commented on the breast size of another.
The alleged incidents took place at the Sungai Buloh and Petaling Jaya police stations.
The women were escorted to PJ police station by Kok and Nair. Also present were seven senior officers.
- Nov 30: The fourth Chinese national who was involved in the incident, housewife Liew Jing turned up at the district police headquarters and picked out the woman constable from an identification parade. She was also interviewed extensively over what transpired in police custody following her arrest on Nov 3.
Police also interviewed her husband, a Malaysian.
Dec 2: Former members of the Royal Commission on the Police Force — Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek, Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim and Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari — are appointed to head the independent commission.
Dec 6: Azmi, accompanied by his deputy, Datuk Tan Chai Ho, and Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, left for China to clarify with the Chinese authorities about reports of alleged ill-treatment of China nationals.
Dec 9: Seventeen people were subpoenaed to give evidence at the inquiry. It is learnt that at least 10 were police officers.
Dec 12: Azmi arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after a week-long visit to China. While in China, Azmi met its Foreign Minister, Internal Security Minister and Tourism Minister.
Azmi said his mission was accomplished, and the Chinese Government and the media there were satisfied with the explanation given.
- Dec 13: The video clip that set off nationwide outrage and put the police in the dock over alleged human rights abuses was in circulation in June.
Chief Inspector Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, officer-in-charge of the PJ police station, told the commission a police constable told him he had seen the video clip. It was shown to him by another policeman.
- Dec 14: The woman doing squats in the nude was not a Chinese national as widely reported. A 22-year-old Malay woman told the commission of inquiry that she was the person in the video clip.
She had been arrested for drug possession with five others at 1am on June 26 and was sent to the PJ police headquarters.
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