A Singaporean man is suing the Immigration Department of Malaysia for RM2.67 million (S$876,000), claiming that he went through "torture" and stayed in "inhuman" conditions while he was detained by the authorities there.

According to the Malay Mail, the Singaporean man Gilbert Louis and four other individuals were detained by the Immigration Department on Oct. 9, 2018.

All of them were residing at Louis' Johor Baru house.

One of the four people was a female friend of Louis' from the Philippines with a valid visa.

However, the other three men allegedly had no valid visas.

Louis's lawyer, Arun Kasi, claimed that Louis' visa was valid until Nov. 7, 2018.

Mobile phone confiscated

In a follow-up report by the Malay Mail on June 12, Louis claimed that immigration officials at the Setia Tropika immigration office confiscated his personal belongings, such as his mobile phone, wallet, cash, keys and shoes.

He was then allegedly kept in a "cramped cell" with 100 other detainees, and he had to sleep on a "bare dirty floor".

The next day, he was transferred to Pekan Nanas immigration camp, supposedly suffering breathing difficulties along the way.

Kept in allegedly terrible conditions

At Pekan Nanas camp, where Louis was allegedly detained for 36 days until Nov. 14, 2018, things supposedly got worse.

Louis claimed the following things happened:

• He was kept in an overcrowded cell meant to hold 50 people, but held 130.
• The open toilet was dirty, no clean drinking water was available, food was provided in an "unhygienic" condition.
• The cell was warm, had limited ventilation and detainees slept in cramped conditions.
• Essential items such as a mat, blanket, pillow and toiletries were not provided, and he had to walk barefoot and sleep on a "dirty" floor.
• He had to wear the same clothes for 14 days, and only changed them when officers brought him back to his house to view a CCTV recording.

Supposedly forced to pay up

Louis allegedly only managed to shower after 10 days, and only after buying soap at an "excessive price" from a supposed off-the-books store.

He also claimed that he was forced to buy items from this store for another detainee, a self-proclaimed leader of a pack.

He said he was also forced to pay RM1050 (S$344) for the ferry tickets of three Indonesian detainees.

Louis's health problems

But that's not all.

Louis also alleged that he suffered health problems as a result of his stay.

He supposedly contracted diseases and lost substantial weight due to the conditions he experienced, and could only seek treatment after his release.

He also claimed that he informed immigration officials that he suffered from a heart condition and needed medicine, but he was denied them except for one occasion when a government doctor outside the camp gave him a few days' supplies.

He was also allegedly given limited access to his friends and family, no access to his lawyer, and was denied a meeting with the commissioner of oaths to affirm an affidavit for court purposes.

Claim filed in KL High Court

In the statement of claim seen by Malay Mail, Louis alleged the following:

• The treatment he received amounted to "torture" and "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment" as defined under international conventions.
• The treatment breaches Articles 5 and 7(1) of Malaysia's Federal Constitution.

Louis left Malaysia after Nov. 14, 2018.

He claimed his arrest was unlawful as:

• There was no valid reason for the arrest.
• No investigation was carried out for any offence.
• No charges were pressed against him.
• He was not presented before a magistrate.

Louis's lawsuit was filed in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on May 28.

According to Malaysiakini, both the Director-General of the Immigration Department and the government of Malaysia were named.

You can see Louis's Facebook post below, shared on June 11, in which he name checks both Kasi and Singaporean lawyer M Ravi.

However, Ravi is not mentioned in neither the Malay Mail nor the Malaysiakini news reports.

Not the first time someone mentioned horrible detention conditions in Malaysia:

Top image from Gilbert Louis's Facebook page and MTUC.my.