Now, it's Japan's turn

Japanese student accuses Malaysian police of extortion
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3


(AFP) - Two Malaysian police officers forced a Japanese student to withdraw money from an automated teller machine (ATM) to pay them off after he was found without travel documents, a report said Saturday.


Kaibon Kuaihiro, 24, who was in Malaysia for an eight-month language course, told the New Straits Times that he was in a taxi on one of Kuala Lumpur's main roads when it was pulled over Monday by two police officers.

"When I told them I was not carrying any travel documents, they handcuffed me and told me to sit in the police car," Kuaihiro was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The student, who hails from Wakayama prefecture south of Osaka, alleged the police then demanded he pay them 2,000 ringgit (530 dollars) and verbally abused him when he said he did not have any money.

They then reportedly took him to an ATM and forced him to give his personal identification number to the taxi driver, who made a withdrawal from the machine and handed the police 500 ringgit.

"I waited in the police car, still handcuffed, with the two policemen," said Kuaihiro, adding he was released after the money was paid.

The student, who has completed his studies and will return to Japan this month, went to a police line-up Friday to identify the officers.

"We are checking who was on duty in the area that day. We will also view the footage from the ATM's closed-circuit television camera," district deputy police chief Mohamad Rodzi Ismail was quoted as saying of the investigation.

Police were not immediately available for further comment.

The alleged incident comes amidst a high-profile police campaign launched last month to clean up the force and battle corruption.

Malaysian police are also the subject of an independent inquiry after the alleged humiliation of a Chinese woman detainee, who was forced to perform squats while naked as a policewoman looked on.