In April, Sabri Umar was arrested and then sentenced to 11 months in prison and five strokes of the cane by a sessions court under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act.

While waiting for his appeal to be heard, he was whipped in the Tawau prison on June 23.

The Tawau High Court acquitted him in July after his lawyer managed to prove that Sabri had a valid Indonesian passport and a work pass from his employer, Fu Yee Corp.

Sabah Timber Industries Employees’ Union (STIEU) general secretary Engrit Liaw said she submitted a petition to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) here today calling for a public inquiry to be held.

“We want a public inquiry to be held as soon as possible for Sabri as we believe it’s not an isolated case,” she said.

Sabri was not present for the submission of the petition as he had to attend to other urgent matters in Sabah.

The petition, signed by over 40 NGOs, claimed that Sabri was not brought before a magistrate within 24 hours of his wrongful detention, and that he was wrongly charged and sentenced for illegally staying in Malaysia.

The petition also alleged that the Indonesian was assaulted and tortured while in police custody and wrongfully imprisoned for 94 days, from April 19 to July 22.

It also claimed Sabri was initially questioned by police after his employer filed a police report against him over a sexual offence.

While Sabri had denied the allegation, the petition claimed police forced him to admit to the offence during investigations. However, he was never charged with the offence.

Also present to submit the petition were Serikat Buruh Kerakyatan Indonesia’s (Serbuk) Khamid Istakhori, Building and Wood Workers’ International regional representative Apolinar Tolentino, and Labour Law Reform coalition co-chairman Irene Xavier.