TWO police officers are fighting the very system they had taken an oath to protect, after they were jailed for crimes they said they never committed.

Corporal Jusninawati Abdul Ghani was detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 in March 2016 for allegedly concealing information on terrorism-related activities.

She fought her case in the courts until she was acquitted by the Federal Court, which ordered her release in March this year. She was also reinstated in the police force.

Former assistant superintendent Md Ali Amir Batcha, meanwhile, was detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for three years, for armed robbery.

He was released 20 years ago, and is fighting to clear his name till this day. His hope for justice was renewed after new Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador agreed to meet him this week.

The Malaysian Insight spoke to both officers, who are upset at being treated like common criminals by their peers and superiors even though there was no evidence against them.

Jusninawati even took a dig at the rehabilitation process for terror convicts.

She was attached to the Petaling Jaya district police station at the time of her arrest. In December 2016, the high court found her guilty, and she was sentenced to seven years’ jail.

“I spent three years in prison as a terror suspect. I was in a cell by myself. What rehabilitation process are we talking about?” said the 38-year-old.

Her “crime” was that she knew a suspected Islamic State terrorist, but never reported the individual to her superiors.

Jusninawati said she neither had links with the now-defunct IS, nor had she been involved in funding or recruiting Malaysians to join the militant group.

“I was just helping a friend meet up with a man she was going to marry. The man eventually went to Syria and died there.

“The man had told me about his intention to go to Syria, but I could not tell if he was serious. I met him on behalf of my friend.”

The mother of two said she would have gone crazy had she failed her second appeal.

A five-man bench, led by justice Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, unanimously set aside Jusninawati’s charge and sentence.

She was then reinstated as a cop, as confirmed by a senior officer at Bukit Aman.

However, things have changed. Jusninawati’s relationship with her seniors is unlike before.

She has taken to Facebook to vent her frustrations at being jailed for a crime she did not commit.

“I cannot turn back the clock, so I will take it as a lesson and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It has made me a much stronger person.”

As for Ali, he said he was framed by his superiors after he brought down an underworld gang that had connections with police.

“I was accused of committing a robbery in Kulai, Johor, in 1997, but that is nonsensical because I was transferred to the Selangor police contingent in 1995.”

He was detained under the EO for gang robbery, and spent three years at the Simpang Renggam detention centre.

“I was detained without a trial. No evidence was produced,” said the 65-year-old.

“I was forced to confess by the investigating team. I refused to admit to something that I did not commit.

“After failing to get a confession and evidence of my involvement, I was released from (the) Simpang Renggam (detention centre) in 2000, following an order by the Home Ministry.”

Ali filed a suit against police and the government in 2001.

“I hired a lawyer to fight the case. I paid him RM40,000, and I had to sell my house.

“The judge called the lawyers into his chambers. My lawyer came out and told me to drop the case.”

Ali said after the change of government, he decided to try and clear his name once again. And now, he is hopeful that Hamid will make things better for him. – July 2, 2019.