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Alleged Sabah torture video uploaded on Internet, Malaysia warns vs 'false' videos


A 13-minute video claiming to show alleged abuses by Malaysian police on civilians in Sabah has been uploaded to the Internet, even as Malaysian officials denied the men in the video were its security forces in Lahad Datu.
 
But many who viewed the video titled "Malaysian Police Abuse in Sanah (sic)," which was posted on YouTube March 7—two days after security forces started an offensive in Lahad Datu, voiced doubt over its authenticity.
 
Malaysian forces had been conducting operations in the Lahad Datu area to flush out followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who had engaged them in deadly clashes since March 1.
 
"Malaysian authorities Killed and Torture Sabah Innocents citizen!" read the caption on the video uploaded by "Nilo Aniversario." 
 
As of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the video has had 1,516 views, two likes and 26 dislikes.
 
Torture
 
The video showed several half-naked men with hands tied behind their backs and made to lie on the ground. One appeared to have been wounded in the leg.
 
It showed the men were tortured while being questioned while other heavily armed police personnel were conducting a raid on a house.
 
Sounds of gunshots were heard in the background.
 
One of the men was stepped on. At the 5:30 mark, a person walking in the area appeared to crouch after being shouted at.
 
A closeup of one of the policemen was shown in the video at the 7:45 mark.
 
The 8:47 and 13:54 marks of the video showed one of the men bloodied, appearing to have puncture wounds in the back, body and head. He was clad only in underwear and was being questioned.
 
Negative reactions
 
But many comments on the video indicated Malaysian police forces do not wear such uniforms.
 
One commenter said the language in the video was "Indonesian," while another said Malaysian police is spelled "Polis" and not "Polisi" as supposedly shown in the video.
 
Malaysia denies its men in video
 
Meanwhile, Malaysia denied its men were in a video that showed a man being tortured, his fingers cut and beheaded. Such a scene was not in the YouTube video.
 
A report on Malaysia's The Star Online quoted police Deputy Inspector-General Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar as saying the man in the video was not part of the Malaysian security forces.
 
“We discovered the video actually depicted a man from a foreign country. The incident occurred overseas. ... The man in the video is definitely not one of our security forces personnel,” he said.
 
“We hope the public will not be influenced by this video,” he added, saying the graphic footage "can cause panic and affect the morale of security personnel.”
 
Khalid also said the uniform of the men and the terrain showed the video was not taken in Lahad Datu. He added uniform of the man in the video was not of the Malaysian security forces.
 
He said a task force has been formed to track down those responsible for the video. He said the police "will take action against those responsible" for spreading the video.
 
Also, Khalid also advised netizens not to spread rumors or unconfirmed reports about the operations in Lahad Datu, saying they will release verified reports “through press conferences and even on the police Facebook and Twitter pages.” —KG, GMA News
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