Wan Ji claims assaulted by prison warden during detention

Preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin claimed he was beaten up by a prison warden during his brief detention at Kajang prison.

Recollecting his experience a day after he was released on July 12, he said a warden asked him to remove his glasses before punching him thrice, after finding out who he was.

"When I went in, I was asked to remove my clothes leaving only pants in order to shave my head and facial hair.

"There was one person who spoke in Kelantanese dialect, he had his face covered and was wearing a warden's uniform.

"He asked for my name, I said 'Wan Ji'. He then asked me to take off my glasses and then 'bam, bam', he gave it to me three times.

"I was wondering what I did wrong while the other wardens laughed," he said during a gathering which was recorded on video.

The PKR-linked preacher said he had informed Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Port Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim on the matter, who had contacted the prison to identify the assailant.

Wan Ji said he had raised the matter with his lawyer who informed him to lodge a police report.

However, Wan Ji said he did not want the assailant to end up losing his job.

"But he (lawyer) said the assailant could be doing that to other people."

As such, Wan Ji said he wants the warden to come forward and apologise, after which he will retract the police report.

"I don't know why he did that to me, perhaps he has disliked me for a long time," noting that certain political party supporters did not like him.

However, Wan Ji said the attack being politically-motivated was merely a speculation and that he cannot confirm the matter.

Wan Ji was sent to prison by the Shah Alam High Court judge Abdul Halim Aman on July 9 despite the defence indicating that they plan to appeal and wanted a stay on his enhanced sentence under the Sedition Act 1948. 

He was released on July 12 after his lawyers formally filed a stay on the sentence.