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PM in danger of being isolated and his resolve for “no-holds-barred” investigations into naked ear-squat police scandal watered down because of powerful police resistance which had enlisted support of Deputy Internal Security Minister and several Ministers
________________________________ Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Noh Omar has become the strongest defender and apologist for the Malaysian police Abu Ghraib scandal highlighted by the naked ear-squat videoclip, declaring yesterday that the police action was in accordance with rules and regulations.
He told reporters in Parliament yesterday: “I dare say everything was done following the rules”, referring to the Lock-up Rules 1933 and the Criminal Procedure Code.
In his media conference at the Parliament lobby today, he went even further, contemptuously telling foreign nationals to go back to their countries if they think the Malaysian police are “cruel”, as if asserting the “sovereign right” of Malaysia to be cruel, completely disregarding the issue about police violation of prescribed laws and human rights standards.
The statement by the Minister
for International Trade and Industry today is also a matter of grave
concern – not from what she said but what she failed to say. Datuk Seri
Rafidah Aziz said that the incident of the woman believed to be a Chinese
national, forced to do ear squats in the nude in a police station recently,
will not affect trade relations between Malaysia and China.
All eyes are on the Cabinet tomorrow as to whether it would be strong enough to take the bold decision to order independent investigations into the incident, not just as an isolated incident, but whether it is the tip of an iceberg represent systemic police abuses.
The original will of the Prime Minister for a full-scale investigation into both the individual and systemic aspects of the police abuses should not be allowed to be watered down into an inquiry raising many questions about its credibility, authority and legitimacy.
Parliamentary Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP
Central Policy and Strategic Planning Commission
Chairman |