Faizal Ali made a complaint to the police. A day later a heavily armed police unit and the man he had complained against showed up at his store, arrested him and locked him up.

Ali told the members of the Disciplined Forces Com-mission yesterday that since that incident he was being victimised by a policeman nearly everyday.

Testifying before the commission yesterday at the Supreme Court Law Library, the managing director of Yuppies Depot Inc. said a misunderstanding had prompted him to make the complaint against an associate. Afterward he was visited at his store by his associate who came with a squad of police ranks armed with long guns and pistols in their belts. They requested his presence at the Leonora Police station and after they clarified that it was in relation to his complaint, he was taken away.

At the station he was told that he had been accused of assaulting his associate and was instructed to sit on a bench. But as he sat there he said his accuser told him that the entire parade was “smoke”.

Ali said he had asked for a phone call and was forced to use his own cellular phone when he was told there was no phone available.

He called his wife and explained the situation to her and exclaimed, “Like I’m London! I’m the most wanted criminal!”

At this statement a policeman pulled away the phone and told him he was talking too much and should be placed in the lock-ups. He said another from the squad who had arrested him said he should be beaten.

Ali made complaints to senior officers at the station, and the rank who had grabbed the phone from him was banned from any involvement in the matter.

Ali was freed after his accuser asked to settle the matter and recanted his allegations. But he was not charged with making a false report.

The next day two people, including a policeman who moonlights as a minibus driver for his accuser, visited Ali and threatened him.

He said he made a formal complaint to the Divisional Commander and the Police Complaints Authority but nothing has been done. Moreover, he is being continually harassed by this police rank who stopped him from Monday to Thursday during traffic patrols last week and Tuesday this week.

Also testifying at yesterday’s hearing were Mercylene Moses and Orin Douglas, the brother of slain University student Yohance Douglas.

Moses told the commissioners of how the police treated her mentally retarded son, Michael Simon, who they shot in Buxton last year. He was accused of robbery and is facing charges in court.

On the day her son was shot she went to the Vigilance Police Station where she found her son seated and a visible gunshot wound on his right leg. She said she was prevented from talking to him until the intervention of a senior policeman who instructed the junior ranks to rush him to the hospital. Her son told her he was shot when police pulled up to a street corner in the village. He and others dispersed at the sight of the vehicle but the policemen inside ordered them to stop. She said he stopped but was shot.

Moses said her son was later released but rearrested and beaten.

Because of these incidents and policemen teasing him about his impairment, her son was unwilling to visit Vigilance. Moses recommended that policemen screen their recruits to ensure that they were properly qualified and trained in ethics.

She said it did not matter if a person was retarded or not, policemen should be able to communicate with members of the public.

Meanwhile, Douglas said his family has been left traumatised by the actions of the policemen that resulted in his brother’s death on March 1st this year.

Fearful that this “violation of fundamental human rights” could happen again, he said there must be basic operational procedures for policemen.

Another of his concerns is the appearance that police officers are given special privileges over other prisoners when they are charged.

“We would like to know when [they are] behind bars they are treated like other prisoners....”

Citing the policemen charged for his brother’s death he said:

From all appearances they aren’t... They are not handcuffed when they come to court.”

He was told that there were occasions where the danger posed by prisoners might determine whether or not they were shackled but was invited by the Commission to submit further evidence on his concerns.