No police negligence involved Gasim

Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has said that there was no police negligence involved in the death of Abdullah Gasim, 43 of Raiyfusge, S. Hithadhoo. Gasim died after being hit by a motorcycle, while a police officer was trying to stop people on another motorcycle who had snatched a phone on 17 August 2012.

A statement issued by the commission states that investigations by the commission has revealed that the case had also been investigated by the police.

PIC said that there are no grounds to rule that the police’s decisions regarding the case, that Gasim’s death was not caused by negligence, the use of excessive force or the use of force in a situation where force should not been used by the police, are not valid.

The statement, which supports the police’s decisions, says that the police used batons in accordance with the law against a person who was refusing to obey orders and speeding on a motorcycle, and that the police acted in line with the authority accorded to the police when they stopped the motorcycle, because suspicions existed that the item had been stolen.

“Video footage received by the commission shows that Gasim stopped his motorcycle behind the police after the police started operating in the middle of the road, and because the attention of the police at the time was on the area in front of them, there are no grounds to believe that the police were aware that Gasim had stopped behind them to observe the scene,” says the PIC statement.

The statement further says that based on the footage, it cannot be confirmed that the people on the motorcycle were hit by the baton held by the police officer. PIC said that even if they were hit, it was only the person on the pillion that was hit on the back, and that the action by the police officer did not affect the speed or the direction of the motorcycle.

The case was filed to PIC by Gasim’s family following the leak of a video related to the incident on social networks. The video showed a police officer near Justice Building trying to stop a speeding motorcycle carrying two people.

When the two people refused to slow down after being asked by the police officer, the officer is seen attempting to hit them with a baton. The two people then tried to escape from the police officer, and collided with Gasim who was sitting on a stationary motorcycle near Justice Building.