A SINGAPOREAN is suing the Malaysian Immigration Department after being held for 37 days in Johor and seeking RM2.67 million in damages for the ordeal, reports The Malay Mail.

Puis Gilbert Louis, 67, was arrested by immigration officers in Johor Baru on October 9, 2018.

The next day, he was moved to the Pekan Nanas immigration camp where he was placed in a cell designed to hold 50 people with about 130 other detainees until his release on November 14, 2018.

Puis said in his statement of claim that he is a claustrophobe and suffers from asthma and the ordeal exacerbated his medical condition.

“The conditions of detention transgressed all basic standards of detaining humans and was without regard to any minimum standards of humanity and inflicted cruelty against humanity,” the statement of claim said.

In the claim, he also alleged “torture” and “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment” (CIDTP) as defined under international conventions and in breach of Articles 5 and 7(1) of the federal constitution.

The arrest, he said, was unlawful with no investigation carried out for any offence and no charges pressed against him.

His lawyers filed a habeas corpus application at the Johor High Court on November 9, 2018.

However, on November 14 – a day before the habeas corpus application hearing – he was released from detention and he left Malaysia within seven days. – June 12, 2019.