In the National Art Gallery and the Police's attempt to censor works purportedly portraying ‘elements of communism’, they act precisely like the communists they so zealously despise

Last month, the Malaysian art community made headlines again when 7 artists withdrew themselves from the inaugural KL Biennale after pieces from their installation titled, “Under Construction” were purportedly confiscated by the police the day before the official launch of the exhibition.  The KL Biennale is a biennial contemporary art exhibition jointly organised by the National Art Gallery and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC). Modelled after the famous Venice Biennale, the KL version was heavily promoted as it featured 103 local artists and 11 international artists.

While Malaysians may understand a degree of censorship with regards to certain taboo issues such as art works insulting religion, the basis of censorship for the so-called prestigious event above has made Malaysia an international laughing stock.

The artists, comprising of 5 Malaysians and 2 Indonesians, said that police were called in to inspect their work and had said that the works presented “elements of communism”.  The parts removed by the authorities, included the word “Rasuahahahahaha” and some books.

According to the group’s spokesperson, Aisyah Baharuddin, the art installation was meant to depict the human mind, culture and community, which were always changing and developing.

To add salt to wound, the artists were even forbidden to touch their own art work pending police investigations.

“We felt that they have violated our artwork by removing things that were part of the whole project. We were not allowed to go near it or even touch it. That was why we finally decided to cover it up with the black net as a sign of protest,” Aisyah said.

What was most disgraceful is the utter lack of professionalism and competence among the organisers and the authorities.

The show’s curator told the artists that the police confiscated pieces from their installation. However, the police said they only advised the gallery to remove the artwork and return it to the artists.  More than a week after the controversy, no one is none the wiser.

As Aisyah rightly asked, “the National Art Gallery and the police have given conflicting accounts. Who is telling the truth? What actually happened?”

The irony of the entire fiasco is the fact that the Malaysian authorities are acting precisely like the purported “communisim” elements which the artist were accused of portraying.  Are we now like a Stalinist totalitarian regime where the police and other relevant authorities will act like the Big Brother controlling how and what its citizens think?

The blatant attempts at censorship here clearly epitomises the ‘advise’ provided by the recently retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to cartoonist Zunar to stick to “drawing Donald Duck”.

This totalitarian mindset of the National Art Gallery and the Police will destroy any hopes of achieving the Biennale’s main objectives, which was to position KL as a must visit city on the global art map and to position Malaysia as a country that is persistent in developing a competitive creative economic sector.

The government had proudly launched the Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA) with a RM20 million allocation in this year’s budget to boost the country’s cultural economy. Previously, the government launched MyCreative Ventures in 2012 as an investment arm with a RM200 million allocation to invest in viable creative businesses in the country. Both CENDANA and MyCreative Ventures are listed as co-supporters of the KL Biennale.

However, all the above well-intended funding allocations however will be completely wasted if the trend of arbitrary and increasingly intolerant censorship continues.

Earlier this year, Sabahan art collective Pangrok Sulap also made headlines when the withdrew themselves from the ongoing ESCAPE from SEA, exhibition after their piece titled “Sabah Tanah Air-Ku” was removed from the exhibition in Bangsar. Their piece was reported removed after a complaint was made that was later escalated to the Prime Minister’s Office. The piece explicitly highlights major Sabahan issues including Project IC, illegal logging, flooding and corruption.

If the government is sincere about making Malaysia a global cultural hub and to develop her local creative industries, it must stop with these frivolous acts of censorship and allow creative expression to thrive.

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The Minister of Finance should stop telling lies and giving excuses, and admit that Malaysians will never get to see any more audited financial statements for 1MDB and SRC International

Former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had asked the Minister of Finance for the status of the much delayed financial statements for 1MDB.

In a parliamentary reply dated 16 November, the Minister of Finance responded that “on July 8, 2015, the police seized various original documents from 1MDB’s office.  1MDB’s management has contacted the police regarding the return of the company’s documents, but till today, the original documents haven’t been returned to the company”.

Therefore, since the last financial statement prepared by Deloitte Malaysia for the period ending March 2014, there has been no official audits conducted for the scandal-ridden company.  Worse, last year, Deloitte Malaysia has withdrawn its endorsement for the March 2013 and March 2014 financial statements.

This means that 1MDB has since March 2012, or more than 5 years ago, 1MDB has not filed any financial statements which have been endorsed by an external auditor.

This unprecedented delay was despite repeated deadline extensions granted to 1MDB by the Companies Commission of Malaysian (SSM) to file its annual reports.  And now the Minister of Finance tells us that it has completely given up and said that it cannot even provide a deadline.

If the Minister of Finance is indeed serious about 1MDB completing its audit process, why hasn’t he, who is also the Prime Minister ‘discuss’ this matter with the Royal Malaysian Police to work out an arrangement for the audit to be carried out?

Surely it cannot be too hard for investigators to allow the auditors to, at the very least, sight the documents needed? Moreover, the police have said that their investigation in 1MDB is now concluded and that they have returned their investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. So why exactly are investigators still holding to these documents if it is necessary for the proper auditing of the company?

We are not asking for the Police to return, relinquish or destroy possible evidence in its hands.  We are merely asking for the Police to allow the statutory audit of 1MDB to be carried out.  The audit is of great urgency and importance as it will confirm if the allegations of billions of ringgit being misappropriated to fictitious investment accounts in various overseas institutions from Singapore to the British Virgin Islands and a little-known island-state of Curacao in South America.

It should be noted that even when the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee was investigating 1MDB prior to 2016, 1MDB refused to even supply its management accounts, despite being requested to do so.

The Finance Minister’s complete lackadaisical attitude towards the audit of a state-owned company with nearly RM40 billion in debts shows that it is a cover up to prevent the truth from being discovered.

The fact that 1MDB cannot produce any audited financial statements since March 2012 further rubbishes Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s pre-budget defence and praise of 1MDB, and the audacious claim that 1MDB will soon “return to profitability”.  It can’t even produce its accounts, what profit is the Prime Minister talking about?

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The MACC must not abscond from its constitutional duty to investigate the ample hard evidence of corruption, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in 1MDB as confirmed by its own former senior officer

The Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported on 10 November that ex-senior Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officer, Ramli Manan said there is ample evidence for the anti-graft agency to investigate the financial fiasco involving state investor 1MDB.

Ramli Manan said investigators had only to look into 1MDB-related court proceedings in Singapore and the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ) reports to assist them in their probes.

Singapore’s investigation into the fund has resulted in the termination of BSI Bank’s license and the arrest of its bankers for assisting in laundering of 1MDB funds. Even as we speak, the Singaporean investigations still continue, with police now examining the role of Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs’ in setting up fraudulent bond offerings for the fund. The US Department of Justice investigations more explicitly state their investigations are aimed at recovering assets bought using funds laundered from Malaysia’s 1MDB.

“The evidence there is glaring and it could be of great assistance to MACC officers,” said Ramli, who retired as director of the Sabah ACA.

He further confirmed my criticism of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last week that the MACC and the Royal Malaysian Police have different responsibilities and jurisdiction.  Ramli told FMT that “it is only the MACC that has the expertise and experience to carry out investigation on graft and abuse of power. Police only can probe Penal Code offences.”

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in-charge of Integrity, Datuk Paul Low had on 1 November responded to me in Parliament that “investigations weren’t carried out because of existing investigations being done by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Bank Negara and the Police.”

The statement by the former Sabah ACA Chief only goes to prove that there could not be a more shameless and irresponsible reply from the Minister and the Government.

The MACC is clearly and willfully choosing to ignore readily-available evidence in order to protect those implicated in the multi-billion dollar scandal, including the Prime Minister and his family members.

We’d like to remind the MACC again of their role as an independent commission. Its actions should never be dictated or influenced by the actions of other authorities or agencies.  To prove that the MACC is indeed independent and not cowardly, it should immediately kick off its investigations into the massive shenanigans in the company and ensure the culprits who have caused billions of ringgit in losses pay for their heinous crimes.

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The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should stick to catching criminals who rob the country instead of telling artists what they should and should not draw

Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has advised political cartoonist Zunar to channel his creative juices towards drawing "nice cartoons" if he wanted to exhibit his work.

"He can draw McDonald's or Donald Duck, " he quipped when asked if Zunar would be allowed to showcase his cartoons in a public exhibition.

Perhaps Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has failed to read and/or understand that we have a Federal Constitution which guarantees “Fundamental Liberties” including the “Freedom of speech, assembly and association”. 

While such liberties are not absolute, we are supposed to be far from a totalitarian or police state to the extent where the IGP tells an artist to draw “nice cartoons”.

Certainly, just because Zunar’s criticism of the ruling kleptocratic elite who are mired with rampant corruption, abuse of power and incitement of racial flames are portray in a manner which is unpalatable for those who are in power, that certainly do not mean that they are illegal in anyway. 

In fact, Tan Sri IGP, you are not required to like Zunar’s art!

Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar tried to justify his repeated arrest of Zunar by claiming that the artist had “insulted the country’s leaders”.

He asked what if the tables were turned when someone draws cartoons which insulted opposition leaders?  "If tomorrow such cartoons targeted Penang Chief Minister (Lim Guan Eng), would he like it if we just ignored them?”

Firstly, a hopefully not too profound question for our Inspector-General of Police:

If a thief were to be insulted by a caricature him or her as a “despicable thief”, would you arrest the thief or the artist?  Is the alleged “insult” which has hurt the feelings of the thief wrong in the eyes of the law, or is should the thief who have stolen billions of dollars from the people of Malaysia be arrested, investigated and charged instead?

After all, as far as we are aware, no leader of this country is legislated to be above the law.

Secondly, Tan Sri Khalid raised the most ironic of examples – with regards to purported insults against opposition leaders like the Penang Chief Minister.

In fact, DAP and other opposition leaders have been regularly demonised via caricatures appearing in Utusan Malaysia for the past decades, their posters and pictures torn and burnt by UMNO demonstrators – what exactly has the Police done against these parties?

We are not asking for the Police to take action against these people.  However, the fact that the IGP only takes action against those who criticise UMNO leaders and close one eye to those who viciously attacked those in the Opposition clearly demonstrates his bias and hypocrisy in the reasons provided for the persecution of Zunar.

We call upon Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to stop making Malaysia and its police force the butt of international jokes by stopping all actions against artists, civil society members and political dissidents.  Instead, he should regain the respectability of the force by initiating urgent arrests and investigations against all parties cited by the United States, Switzerland and Singapore investigators who have stolen and misappropriated billions of dollars from 1MDB and SRC International, including but not limited to Jho Low and his father, Riza Aziz, Eric Tan Kim Loong, 1MDB and SRC officials as well as the shameless “Malaysian Official 1”.

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The Royal Malaysian Police and Bank Negara must investigate latest allegations that Ambank officials actively conspired with Jho Low to launder funds into Dato’ Seri Najib Razak's personal bank accounts

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had on 6 September 2016 made very specific allegations against Ambank Malaysia and its officials of facilitating and abetting money-laundering when billions of ringgit was transferred into the bank accounts of Dato’ Seri Najib Razak.

In making the allegations, the prestigious financial paper substantiated the claims with private conversations between senior Ambank officials with Low Taek Jho, who was carrying out the transactions on behalf of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister gave Low access to his accounts, according to investigative documents sighted by WSJ. His primary contact at AmBank was Joanna Yu, the banker he had warned via BlackBerry to communicate discreetly. Cheah Tek Kuang, a senior AmBank executive and adviser to the bank’s chairman, handled the account personally, the BlackBerry messages indicate.

On the assumption that the messages were genuine, they clearly indicated a conspiracy by the above parties to at best hide the transactions from scrutiny, and at worst, blatant masking of the illicit transactions as legitimate ones.

According to WSJ, Low sent hampers of food to Yu and lunched with her at noodle shops, according to the phone messages. He kept reinforcing the need for secrecy: “v v important no one should know in ambank besides u or cheah or get hold of statement,” one message said. “Cause if it gets on internet where funds were from then headache.”

Yu even made recommendations on which US correspondent bank will raise less questions involving the transfers.  They discussed whether to use Wells Fargo & Co. or J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

“Can do JP, but may raise ques too…suspect better keep to wachovia,” Ms. Yu wrote, referring to a unit of Wells Fargo.

“Okay, wachovia then,” he replied. The transfer went through the Wells Fargo unit.

The above conversations raises major concerns of a high-level conspiracy to enable the money-laundering transactions to take place without being questioned or detected.

As the parties responsible for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Act (AMLA), the Royal Malaysian Police and particularly, Bank Negara must take immediate actions to investigate the above very serious allegations.

They must be investigated, and if found true, concrete actions must be taken to protect the integrity of our banking institutions and financial system.  Otherwise, the hard-earned reputation of Bank Negara and Malaysia will take a severe beating.

Instead, Malaysia may become an infamous haven for the rich and powerful criminals to abuse our banking institutions to hide and launder their ill-gotten wealth.

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Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar proven as the most incompetent and irresponsible Inspector-General of Police in Malaysian history

The Minister of the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan has now officially confirmed that the “Malaysian Official One” (MO1) named in the United States Department of Justice suit to seize more than US$1 billion of 1MDB-funded assets, is none other than Dato’ Seri Najib Razak.

MO1 has been identified as the party who has received proceeds amounting to US$731 million between 2011 and 2013 which were laundered by parties who have defrauded 1MDB.

With the confirmation by Datuk Seri Rahman Dahlan, Malaysians who have just celebrated our 59th Merdeka anniversary in the most subdued manner, would have hoped that the relevant authorities will finally commence actions against the Prime Minister, albeit belatedly.

However, all such hopes were immediately extinguished by Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who gave the most incredulous and most unacceptable excuse as to why there will be no action against Dato’ Seri Najib Razak.  This is inspite of the irrefutable and unrefuted evidence which has been presented by the US DOJ to the whole wide world.

“I've said this before: that whatever action taken in the US is a civil action. We don't get involved in civil suits.  I don’t want to meddle in political matters. Don't drag us into politics,” he said.

How in the world is it “politics” when Malaysians ask Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to investigate the “world’s largest financial scandal” which has enriched Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s bank account by a mind-boggling US$731 million or nearly RM3 billion based on today’s exchange rates?

In fact, if there is anyone indulging in politics, it is the IGP himself, who is clearly acting to protect the Prime Minister incriminated of grand larceny and support the Barisan Nasional ruling party.  The IGP is failing Malaysians by failing to act without fear or favour against all criminals, regardless of their status and positions.

Tan Sri Khalid had further added that “Let them (the US) solve the civil action. Why are you so nosy wanting the police to investigate this and that,” at a press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters today.

The IGP should be thoroughly ashamed of himself for dismissing the US action as a mere “civil action”.  It is disgraceful that Malaysians now have to rely on the impartiality of foreign jurisdictions to recover billions of dollars stolen and laundered from Malaysians via fraudulent means in 1MDB.

Instead of springing belatedly into action to salvage Malaysia’s pride and honour, the IGP appears to be conspiring with the alleged crooks by feigning ignorance.

The US DOJ suit might be civil in nature as they were attempting to seize the laundered assets, but the allegations contained in the suit are completely criminal in nature.

Why is the police completely disinterested in investigating the fact that more than US$4 billion has been misappropriated by 1MDB and the fact that US$731 million has been pocketed by the Prime Minister?  The IGP must answer as to how is such misappropriation and grand larceny not a crime under Malaysian laws?

Is not being “nosy” the job of the Malaysian police when it comes to criminal activities?

Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s clear cut abdication of his duties has marked himself as the most irresponsible and most incompetent in the history of Malaysia.

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The Police’s ring-fenced investigations into 1MDB points to scapegoating former Director and CEO Datuk Shahrol Halmi for the multi-billion dollar scandal

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar disclosed on Friday that the police have completed the first phase of their investigation into 1MDB, which is restricted to the five recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as ordered by the cabinet.

As pointed by DAP Parliamentary Leader, the “five recommendations” by the PAC has nothing to do with police investigations as they relate to corporate reorganisation of the heavily indebted company.  For example, the PAC recommended that the 1MDB Board of Advisors be dissolved, that the Ministry of Finance assumes ownership of the property assets under the company and that 1MDB “should avoid excessive debt”.

The only request by the PAC in its report, which was not part of the five recommendations, was for 1MDB’s former Director and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Shahrol Halmi and others who were involved to be investigated by the authorities.

This leads Malaysians to believe that the ring-fence imposed by the Cabinet and willingly accepted by the IGP, is nothing more than a strategy to place the entire blame for the multi-billion dollar scam on the shoulders of Datuk Shahrol Halmi.

It clearly appears that Datuk Shahrol will be made a scapegoat to ease the pressure on the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who has failed to take any concrete action at all against any party for the losses suffered in what the UK Guardian named as the “world’s largest financial scandal”.

The powers that be would certainly hope that with Datuk Shahrol’s incarceration, a mere pawn in the wider scheme of things, they would be able to wash their hands off the scandal and close the lid on the ugliest chapter of Malaysia’s history.

However, by doing so, the Police would once again make complete fools of themselves, no different from the Altantuya murder scandal in 2006.  Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar who were members of the elite Unit Tindakan Khas assigned to the office of the then Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Najib Razak, were found guilty of murdering the Mongolian woman.  However, no motive was ever presented by the police and the prosecution, or found by the Malaysian Courts when they were condemned to death sentences.

In 1MDB’s case, if only Datuk Shahrol were to be charged and found guilty, the similar question could be asked – what motive is there for Datuk Shahrol to carry out the multi-billion dollar global embezzlement exercise?

Datuk Shahrol, who was referred to as “1MDB Officer 2” in the US Department of Justice suit to seize US$1 billion of laundered 1MDB assets, was never disclosed as an individual beneficiary of the stolen funds.

The beneficiaries of the loot were Low Taek Jho, Riza Aziz, Khadem Al-Qubaisi and Mohammad Badawy Al-Husseiny.  In addition, a “Malaysian Official 1” who could only refer to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, received a whopping US$731 million from the embezzled proceeds.

I have no doubt that Datuk Shahrol is guilty of participating and facilitating in the massive scam to defraud ordinary Malaysians and should be charged for abetting the heinous crime.  However, he is but a cog in the wheel of the 1MDB scandal.  It will be the greatest travesty of justice, similar to the Altantuya murder, where the real conspirators and crooks who had benefited immensely from the crimes are let of scot free.

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Shocking: the Malaysian Police limits 1MDB investigations to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) “recommendations” under Cabinet instructions

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar disclosed yesterday that the police have completed the first phase of their investigation into 1MDB, which is restricted to the five recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as ordered by the cabinet.

"I have said it before: the five recommendations from the PAC are our focus, so I do not want the police to be distracted from what was ordered for us to do, or else the focus of the investigation will deviate," he said.

First, how can the Cabinet give specific instructions to the Royal Malaysian Police on what crimes to investigate and what crimes not to investigate?  Isn’t this tantamount to a clear cut case of obstruction of justice?

Secondly, how can the IGP limit police investigations to merely the 5 “recommendations” by the PAC?

Members of the PAC, especially those from Barisan Nasional will often insist in PAC meetings that the PAC is not a criminal investigation body and such investigations should be left to the relevant authorities, including the Police.  Now, the Police has apparently be instructed to limit its investigations to the “recommendations” of the PAC, which was not based on a “criminal” investigation in the first place.

In fact, the Police should take cognizance that 1MDB has failed, despite repeated requests by both the PAC and the Auditor-General, to hand over its crucial overseas bank statements and verification documents.  As a result, the PAC is unable to investigate the existence of wrongdoings in the state-owned investment company.

For example, the PAC could not verify the ownership of Good Star Limited which received US$1.03 billion from 1MDB as 1MDB could not provide any conclusive ownership documentation to the PAC.  Furthermore, the PAC Chairman hid a Bank Negara Malaysia letter to the Committee which had disclosed that Good Star Limited was owned by none other than Low Taek Jho, or better known as Jho Low.

However, the expose by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on the multi-billion dollar embezzlement of 1MDB’s funds overseas should prompt the Police to obtain all relevant documents to ensure an unhindered and thorough criminal probe on the matter.

Hence Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar must explain to the Rakyat as to why he has refused to investigate the multi-billion dollar 1MDB embezzlement scandal which has taken the world by storm, by restricting itself to the limited findings of the PAC, purportedly under the instructions of the Cabinet?

Isn’t the Police supposed to investigate without fear or favour, even if it were to involve the highest officials of the land?  Doesn’t Tan Sri Khalid realise that there is a severe conflict of interest in the purported Cabinet instruction to restrict the Police investigations because Cabinet members might be involved in the laundered funds?

For example, the DOJ has already cited that a “Malaysian Official 1”, whom even the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Rahman Dahlan admitted is Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, has received US$731 million of the laundered funds in his personal bank account in Malaysia.  Who else has benefitted from these funds?

The failure of the IGP to conduct a no-stones-unturned investigations into the “world’s largest financial scandal” which has brought shame to Malaysia only serves to confirm the suspicions of ordinary Malaysians that Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar is colluding with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues to cover up the heinous scam which has defrauded the people of tens of billions of ringgit.

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If the leaked Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB by Sarawak Report is genuine, the Police must catch the crooks instead of going after whistleblowers!

On Saturday, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police will probe whistleblower site Sarawak Report under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for leaking the classified auditor-general’s report on 1MDB, but only after they verify that it was the genuine document.

“We’re also not sure if the document they published is genuine. So let me discuss with the auditor-general first to make sure whether the document is truly the auditor-general’s report, which has been classified as secret.  If it's true, then we will investigate under OSA. So let’s all calm down first.”

The IGP’s statement is shocking on several counts.  For one, Malaysians are shocked that after months since the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) tabled its report on 1MDB to Parliament demanding investigations on Datuk Shahrol Halmi and others involved in defrauding 1MDB, the Police have yet to gain access to the detailed Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB.

Has the Police been so lackadaisical in its investigations on 1MDB that it hasn’t already obtained a copy of the AG’s Report on 1MDB?  The IGP looked like a fool disclosing to Malaysians that he still has to “discuss with the AG first” to determine if what was leaked on Sarawak Report was indeed the AG’s Report.

Or has the Najib administration decided to maintain the AG’s Report as an OSA document so that even the Police will have difficulty accessing it?  Is this the real reason why the Cabinet has refused to declassify the report as it should have, so that the crooks behind 1MDB cannot be easily and properly investigated?

Regardless, if the leaked AG’s Report by Sarawak Report which exposed the billions defrauded and covered up by 1MDB officers is indeed genuine, Malaysians are shocked that the IGP isn’t at all interested in getting to the bottom of the scam and putting the crooks behind bars.

As the Chief of Malaysian police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should be thoroughly scandalised and embarrassed by the single largest multi-billion dollar heist which has taken place under his nose over the past 5 years.  However, from his media response, he appeared completely indifferent to the great robbery but instead is more interested in a witch hunt to capture and charge the heroic whistleblower under the Official Secrets Act.

The IGP would do well to remember that police officers are sworn to protect Malaysians against criminals and not instead to cover up for crooks.  The Official Secrets Act, draconian that it may be, was designed to protect the national interest of the country, particularly against the leaking of security secrets to foreign agents. 

The AG’s Report on 1MDB is not a national security document.  It is a document which audited 1MDB for tens of billions of ringgit lost and has been exposed as such by the Sarawak Report.  It is hence a crucial evidentiary report against the masterminds behind the 1MDB scam and any attempt by the IGP to suppress the evidence will pervert the course of justice in Malaysia.

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A question for the IGP - Why the delay in 1MDB probe despite sufficient evidence?

In  an  interview  with  Singapore  broadcaster  Channel  News Asia, the Auditor-General (AG) Tan Sri  Ambrin  Buang said  his  report on 1Malaysia  Development  Berhad  (1MDB)  provided sufficient basis for an investigation on the state investment firm.

“I  think  our  report  is  sufficient  as  a  basis  for  further  investigation, we have done our job. The next step as recommended by PAC, they want investigation on certain personality in the company, let the  police  do  their  work, we will assist anyone who wants (to) investigate," Ambrin was quoted saying, referring to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

However, despite the PAC having tabled its report on the 7 April, more than six weeks ago, the Royal Malaysian Police has not even called up the key 1MDB protagonist identified in the entire scandal!

Home and Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi informed the Parliament yesterday that the Police have yet to question former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Halmi as part of their probe into the sovereign wealth fund.

"All witnesses involved will be called by police if necessary to record their statements and for further investigations.  Shahrol has not been called to record his statement as of yet," Zahid said when replying to the Member of Parliament for Raub, Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri.

Why is the Police dragging their feet over the entire investigation?

In fact, I have personally first lodged a police report against 1MDB in March 2015, seeking investigations over the role of Datuk Shahrol Halmi, Jho Low and other individuals over their involvement in the 1MDB Petrosaudi investments.

For example, Datuk Shahrol Halmi has instructed payments of US$1.03 billion to Good Star Limited, which the Bank Negara Malaysia has informed the PAC as being “a company owned by an individual unrelated to Petrosaudi International Limited”.

I am not sure if I should be shocked that the Police has failed to even interview the 1MDB key-man after  more  than  a  year. Now  that  even  the  PAC  and  the  Auditor-General  have both indicted Datuk Shahrol Halmi over the gross mismanagement of 1MDB, what else is the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar waiting for?

The IGP is after all famous for being a Twitter-happy top cop, demanding instant arrests and questioning  of  witnesses  and  suspects  over  the  most  trivial  of  alleged  offences  like “insulting” a  leader. Why  is  Tan  Sri  Khalid  Abu  Bakar  taking  his  own  sweet  time  over  what has been internationally recognised “the heist of the century”?

We  call  upon  the  Royal  Malaysian  Police  to  act  with  the  necessary  haste  and  urgency  to ensure  that  the  culprits  behind  the  RM50  billion  monster  scandal  are  quickly  brought  to justice. The  failure  by  the  Police  to  act,  and  the  irony  of  the  speed  of  investigations
overseas will only lead Malaysians to conclude that they are doing their utmost best to cover up the heinous crime involving the most powerful political figures in the country.

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Why has the Royal Malaysian Police not investigated 1MDB's missing Cayman Islands investment funds?

I  had  asked  the  Minister  of  Finance  who  is  the  investment  bank  which  is  managing  the balance  of  the  proceeds  in  the  form  of “units”  which  was  redeemed  from  1MDB’s  Cayman Islands investment amounting to the reported RM940 million.

I  received  the  reply  yesterday stating  that “no  investment  bank  was  appointed  to  manage state investment firm 1MDB's funds in the Cayman Islands.”

The lies by 1MDB and the Minister of Finance have now come a full circle, which strengthens the suspicions that there was never any substantial money invested in the Cayman Islands. The investment was purportedly made with the US$2.318 billion proceeds from the disposal of 1MDB’s investment with PetroSaudi International Limited.

Instead, the supposed opaque investment now looks like a cover story for 1MDB to hide the fact   that   the   billions   of   dollars   invested   with   PetroSaudi   have   been   lost   through embezzlement  and  pilferage. In  fact  the  entire  scam  was  so  well-thought  through  that  it fooled international auditors KPMG and Deloitte for years.

However,  the  chickens  finally  returned  to  roost  when  1MDB  was  forced  to “redeem”  the funds from Cayman Islands.

Under pressure from debtors, 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda hurriedly announced on 13 January 2015 that "following a commitment made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors in a statement dated 23 December 2014, 1MDB can confirm that it has now redeemed in full the US$2.318 billion invested by the company in a Cayman Islands registered fund”.

Again, under pressure to explain what exactly has been “redeemed”, Arul Kanda told the Singapore Business Times on 9 February 2015 that “The cash is in our accounts and in US dollars. I can assure you (about that) . . . I have seen the statements.”

The Minister of Finance further confirmed on 11 March 2015 in Parliament that the “cash”was held in BSI Bank in Singapore.  He further explained that the money wasn’t repatriated to Malaysia to avoid the hassle of Bank Negara approvals.

However, following a damning exposé by the Sarawak Report that BSI Bank denied the existence of cash held in the 1MDB account, the Minister of Finance retracted his earlier reply in Parliament.  On 19 May 2015, and informed the House that the redeemed proceeds were “assets” and not cash.

But a few days later, the mystery had deepened when Second Finance Minister Husni Hanadzlah claimed that what was held in BSI Bank were “units”, when he was asked to clarify on the exact nature of these “assets” in Singapore.

On 10 June 2015, without explaining what these “units” really were, Arul Kanda blamed the entire fiasco of cash to assets to units on “miscommunications on the matter”.

Now, the latest reply from the Finance Minister has proven that Arul Kanda and 1MDB has “miscommunicated” not only on the form of proceeds which were redeemed from the
Caymans investment. The reply showed without a doubt that Arul Kanda and 1MDB lied about the fact that the balance of the US$940 million investment in Caymans were redeemed in the first place.

The purported “investment” is still stuck in Cayman Islands and could not be liquidated.

Even more shocking was the claim by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak that there was no investment bank fund manager for the “units”! How can there be “units” if there is no fund manager?

1MDB must be the first investor in the world who can hold fund manager-less units creating a brand new class of investment assets!

If not,  all of the above points to the fact that lies after lies after lies were told by 1MDB and the Government to carry out a massive cover up of the loss of billions of ringgit by 1MDB over its investment in and with PetroSaudi International.  For the billions we have invested in PetroSaudi, we are now in possession of worthless or even fake and fraudulent “units”.

Why hasn’t the Royal Malaysian Police conducted a thorough investigation over the missing funds and these dodgy “units” even after I have made my police report exactly in March a year ago?

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Why persecute Basheer Azmin out of up to 500,000 Malaysians who took part in Bersih4 peaceful rally?

We refer to the tweets by the Chief Minister of Selangor, Azmin Ali, concerning his son Basheer Azmin who has been summoned by the police pursuant to Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code in relation to the recent Bersih rally.

DAP Selangor urges the Home Ministry to stop such selective harassment on Basheer Azmin, a 15 year old school boy who is starting his final examinations in school this week.

What were the Police thinking?  It has been two months since the Bersih rally and suddenly, out of the blue, is it merely sheer coincidence that the police require Basheer’s attendance on the day of his final exams?

Worse, of all the people the Police could summon to assist with the investigations, whether as a suspect or a witness, why summon a 15 year old boy who just happened to be the son of the Selangor Menteri Besar, Azmin Ali?  Is the Police going to summon up to 500,000 people who took part in the Bersih rally for investigations?

Such high-handed police intervention does not assist in shaking off the perception that the police force is politically motivated and that the Barisan Nasional led Federal Government is utilising its every machinery to oppress the Federal Opposition.

With confidence in the Barison Nasional leadership at an all-time low causing a slowdown in the economy, crime is likely to increase, as warned by the Deputy Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed recently.

As such, DAP Selangor implores the Home Ministry to be more professional in discharging their duties, and to employ its resources into investigating real crime instances, and we reiterate that participating in a peaceful Bersih rally is definitely not one of them.

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The MARA Controversy - Malaysian Money and Officials, But Our Investigation Stalls for an Australian Request

Why are the Malaysian Police so tardy when investigating Government-Linked Companies (GLCs)?

On 23 June 2015, The Age, an Australian newspaper reported that a “top” Mara officer, senior official and former politician have allegedly spent millions of government funds to buy an apartment block in Melbourne in a property scam.

In the exclusive report, the Australian paper alleges that “a group of super-rich Malaysian officials” overpaid by A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million) for an apartment block in the city in 2013. The trio had allegedly “overbid” for the building, called Dudley International House, from A$17.8 million to A$22.5 million (RM65.3 million), with the difference pocketed as bribes back home.

Within 2 days of the report, the Australian Federal Police officers have launched raids in Melbourne as part of an international bribery and money-laundering investigation involving high-ranking Malaysian officials, businessmen and the purchase of Melbourne property.

The Federal agents seized computers and files on Thursday morning from a home in Vermont South and it's believed several other properties were targeted across Melbourne. The urgency of the raid was necessary to prevent the tampering and destruction of valuable evidence.

Unfortunately, all we get in Malaysia is finger pointing among top Mara officials over who is ultimately responsible for the scandalous property transaction. There was no visible urgency among our law enforcement authorities to uncover the scandal and investigate those who were named and involved in the dodgy transactions at the expense of Mara.

All we have heard is that the Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director, Datuk Seri Mortadza Nazarene, said Bukit Aman was aware of the issue based on media reports, but had yet to receive any request from Australia.

“We are always ready to help in any way but so far, we have not received any request from Australia. The investigation is being conducted in Melbourne and we can only get involved if local police ask for assistance,” he said.

Malaysians cannot be blamed for feeling completely helpless that even the Police are not doing anything to uncover the crimes against institutions entrusted to judiciously protect. Why is Bukit Aman waiting for a “request from Australia” before conducting its investigations?

While the crime transaction may have taken place in Melbourne, the money is from the Malaysian government and the alleged criminals are all Malaysians residing in the country. Does that not give sufficient basis for the Police to urgently conduct its own investigations by conducting the necessary raids?

The heavy inertia doesn’t just stop at the recent Mara scandal. Malaysians today are staring at the single largest financial scandal in the history of Malaysian – the RM42 billion 1Malaysia Development Bhd imbroglio. However the Police has failed to demonstrate any sense of exigency despite the scandal boiling over for the past 6 months.

All we got was a short statement by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar who only confirmed “that the investigation is being carried out.”

In fact, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar even alluded to the fact that none of the key protagonists like Low Taek Jho or the top management of the 1MDB scandal have been called for questioning when he asserted, “…in commercial cases such as this, we do not arrest first and then investigate. We have to investigate it first and then only make the arrest if needed”.

As far as we are aware, no raids have been conducted either on the relevant companies.

Hence the speed at which the Australian Police have reacted to the media report puts our own force to shame. All we have is a Prime Minister who appeared more interested in emphasizing yesterday that all these culpable GLC bigwigs are “innocent until proven guilty”.



Tony Pua

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Who to Trust: The Home Minister or the IGP?

Why are there conflicting status reports on the investigation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd by the Home Minister and the Inspector-General of Police?

I had asked the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi for my parliamentary question on the 10 June 2015 to state

"…kedudukan siasatan pihak Polis ke atas penyelewengan dalam urusniaga 1MDB yang telah menyebabkan kerugian berbilion-bilion ringgit."

"Adakah Low Taek Jho telah disoalsiasat sebab dokumen-dokumen yang terbongkar menunjukkan bahawa wang 1MDB telah disalurkan ke dalam akaun beliau?"

The Home Minister completely avoided responding to whether Low Taek Jho has been investigated. However, he surprised everyone by claiming that the Police have completed their probe into debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and is now waiting for further instructions from Attorney-General (A-G).

In referring to a police report lodged by former Batu Kawan Umno division vice-chairman Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Zahid said the case was classified under Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust by public servant or agent.

"The investigative papers have been referred to the A-G on March 9 this year for further action," he said.

Firstly, I’m disappointed that there was no reference made to the police report which I had made personally on the 4 March 2015 against the various parties relating to 1MDB, including Low Taek Jho.

However, I’m even more surprised that the investigation over 1MDB has been completed and submitted to the attorney general more than 3 months ago on 9 March.

This is because on 9 March itself, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had confirmed that police are investigating the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), with a new task force formed to probe the strategic investment company. He said the task force set up several days ago by the Attorney General (A-G), which included the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the A-G Chambers and the police.

"We are part of the task force set up by the A-G. We are investigating those reports lodged," he said on that day.

Since then Bernama reported on 22 March 2015 that the IGP reiterated, “as the police have received information and reports on the case, the special squad [to investigate 1MDB] felt that we should undertake an investigation without having to wait for the report of the National Audit Department.”

Even as late as a week ago on 4 June 2015, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) was still pleading for time and patience from the Malaysian public for the investigations to be completed.

"I don't want to speak on behalf of the task force. I am not their spokesperson but I just want to confirm that the investigation is being carried out. So I don't want to give out any details of the investigation. This is because if I divulge details of the investigation, it will disrupt the task force's probe," he said

In fact, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar even alluded to the fact that none of the key protaganists like Low Taek Jho or the top management of the 1MDB scandal have been called for questioning when he asserted, “…in commercial cases such as this, we do not arrest first and then investigate. We have to investigate it first and then only make the arrest if needed”.

However, if the Home Minister is telling the truth, then we have to ask what is the A-G doing sitting on the investigation papers for the past 3 months?

The glaring question therefore is, how is it that Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi could inform the Parliament that the Police have completed their probe into 1MDB and the investigation papers have been sent to the A-G on March 9 this year when everything the IGP has publicly announced points to the complete? Or is this another example of the Home Ministry’s left hand being totally clueless about what the right hand is doing, a state of affair which is becoming the norm rather than the exception in the Najib administration?

Tony Pua

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Rahim Noor Exemplifies Why EO Should Not Be Reinstated

Disgraced former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor has argued over the weekend in Mingguan Malaysia that the new law to replace the Emergency Ordinance (EO) must permit “preventive detention”.

He claimed the police have admitted that gangsterism is on the rise and even gone “out of control”.  According to the former IGP, the police turned into mere observers, becoming completely helpless in crime prevention since the repeal of the EO.

“They see the situation as having gone out of control. Preventive arrests cannot be made because the laws no longer permit it. Gangsterism is getting worse but they cannot keep it contained,” he said.  Tan Sri Rahim painted a bleak picture of the Royal Malaysian Police today, “it’s like they have broken wings. Things are no longer like they were before. Intelligence gathered can only be documented”.

Instead of justifying the EO, the above admission by the former IGP is the most damning piece of testimony of the competence and professionalism of the Royal Malaysian Police has declined to deplorable standards.  Tan Sri Rahim argued that "the information gathering and tracking is done by the police. They know more deeply about the crime world”.  However, the “intelligence gathered can only be documented” with no further action possible. As a result, these criminals “are free to extort businessmen and rob businesses. Gang fights also keep happening around Klang Valley and Malacca where they kill each other.”

That however, can only mean that either the “intelligence” isn’t very intelligent, or there isn’t anyone intelligent to exercise the “intelligence” to fight crime.

Hence the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was in this case, absolutely spot on when he decreed that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence” upon repealing the EO.  Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib demanded the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.

The former IGP also dismissed the views of the Attorney General (AG) claiming he “does not know fully about the twist and turns and modus operandi of criminals especially those involved in gangsterism”.

Perhaps Malaysians really do not understand the twist and turns of those involved in gangsterism, it was Tan Sri Rahim Noor himself who had beaten former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to pulp while the latter was in custody. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Police had for the longest period denied any abuse on their part, and even suggested that Datuk Seri Anwar had given himself the infamous black eye.

Instead of taking his advice on the EO, Tan Sri Rahim Noor’s action instead exemplifies the need to repeal the EO as the police, and even the IGP lacks the competence and cannot be trusted to decide who is or is not guilty before a person is charged in Court.  Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for example, has been acquited of all charges against him.

We ask that the Government adopts the AG’s position in this matter, that “the existing laws are sufficient to tackle criminals”, and that “it is better to let more guilty people go free than to send the innocent to jail”.

Therefore, the Police must start to lose their dependence on the EO like a crutch and instead, both the Home Minister and the Police must immediately focus the crime-fighting efforts such as restructuring the police force by reallocating more personnel to fight crime and setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

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How Many Deaths Before IPCMC?

On Wednesday, Member of Parliament for Batu Gajah, V Sivakumar highlighted another death in custody under the police on Tuesday 16 July 2013.  This is the the 11th reported case this year involving a 26-year-old Chew Siang Giap, who was detained for 60 days at the Kangar district police headquarters, was sent to the Batu Gajah rehabilitation centre on July 12.

According to the police report made by the son’s father, "when identifying the body at the Batu Gajah Hospital, he found bruises on the victim's body. Upon confirming that the victim was his son, the father said there were black patches that looked like bruises on the victim's ear, shoulder and thigh".

The question that needs to be asked now is whether the Najib administration is so completely heartless as to see Malaysians die in custody, that no urgent and drastic actions need to be taken to remedy the situation.  Malaysians are certainly beginning to think so as the authorities have shown a complete lack of remorse in these deaths where there have been substantial evidence of the victims being tortured.

The frequency of deaths under police custody is increasing at such a pace that it is imperative for the Federal Government to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) immediately to check on police professionalism.

The Home Minister who was responding in Parliament on the 10th July continued to insist that the proposed IPCMC is unconstitutional and that the existing Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) is sufficient to resolve the above tragedies.

If the EAIC which was set up since 2011 is indeed effective in improving police professionalism, then surely we would not have seen the number of unnatural deaths under police custody today.  In fact since 2011, none of the deaths under police custody have been investigated by the EAIC.  It is of course not helped by the fact that the Government has never been serious about EAIC in the first place, leaving the agency severely understaffed and under-budget.

Most importantly however, the EAIC is not seen as a threat or deterrent to the rogue police officers.  The EAIC for example, can only refer complaints to disciplinary authorities of the relevant agency.  It has no prosecution powers and has to refer findings on criminal prosecution to the public prosecutor.

On the other hand, the proposed IPCMC has inherent powers to act on officers found guilty of misconduct.  The IPCMC is empowered to mete out caution, discharge, deprive good conduct badges and allowances, stop increment, demote, severely reprimand, transfer or dismiss.  The IPCMC also has the power to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence commenced by the commission.

In other words, the IPCMC has teeth to enforce discipline, while the EAIC basically has its hands tied behind its back.  The Government has rejected the IPCMC in 2006 essentially due to an open revolt by the Police against its implementation.

What’s more, the argument by the Home Minister that the IPCMC is “unconstitutional” and was “against the concept of justice” are just flimsy excuses.  Even the former Chief Justice, Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah who chaired the Royal Commission Inquiry on the Royal Malaysia Police which first recommended the IPCMC has refuted the Home Minister’s argument that the IPCMC is “unconstitutional”.

He referred to Article 140 which “provides that Parliament may, by law, provide for the exercise of Police Force Commission's disciplinary control over members of the police force in such manner and such authority as may be provided in that law”.

He further added that the establishment of an external oversight body “has been adopted by many modern policing systems whose experience has been that internal mechanisms alone are inadequate, unreliable and frequently ineffective."

Therefore it is important for the Najib administration to demonstrate that it is truly a “transformative” government seeking to reform injustices in the system by setting up the IPCMC.  The issue isn’t just one of increasing the number of investigating officers in the EAIC (although it will certainly help), but one which is about giving teeth to the relevant Commission.  The Government is free to rename the IPCMC as the EAIC, and expand the Commission to include as many agencies as it wants.  However, if the Commission doesn’t have teeth, then it is certainly designed to fail.

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DAP Supports AG Against Preventive Detention

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has given his unequivocal opinion yesterday that he “will never agree to preventive detention".

Tan Sri Abdul Gani further stressed that “the existing laws are sufficient to tackle criminals”, and that “it is better to let more guilty people go free than to send the innocent to jail”. He cited laws which included the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), Prevention of Crime Act, the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and Evidence Act.

The DAP fully welcome the Attorney-General’s position on this matter just as we supported the move by the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak in his move to repeal the Emergency Ordinance (EO) at the end of 2011.

We are fully against the move by the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi to bring back the Emergency Ordinance or laws which involve detention without trial.  The Home Minister has claimed that he has statistics from a recent study on crime which justifies the need to revive the EO, to allow the Police to place suspects under detention without trial for 2 years.

He claimed that according to the study, 90% of organised crimes were carried out by ex-detainees who were released from Simpang Renggam where they were held under the EO.

We have written earlier to dismiss the Minister’s claim as a figment of his imagination and challenged him to produce the report immediately.  We have also shown using the Police’s own statistics that despite the EO, the crime index rose the fastest to its peak in 2008.  At the same time, despite the EO’s repeal at the end of 2011, the Government has insisted that crime rates were down in 2012.

However, even if in the hypothetical scenario that his allegations are true, the solution isn’t about giving the powers to the police to put people into detention without trial but instead to beef up and improve the police force to be able to charge them in court for their crimes.

It is certainly fair for Malaysians to ask, that if the police force isn’t sufficiently competent to investigate and charge a criminal for his offences, then why should we believe that they will be sufficiently competent to send only those who are “guilty” to detention centres without a fair trial?

Therefore, we would like to call upon the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to accept the Prime Minister’s advice that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.”  Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.

Instead of whining like cry babies losing their pacifiers, the Police must start to lose their dependence on the EO like a crutch.  Instead both the Home Minister and the Police must immediately focus the crime-fighting efforts on the following:

1. Start shifting 22,000 police officers from non-crime-fighting division to crime-fighting duties as recommended by the Tun Dzaiddin 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry.  This is because less than 9% of the police force are placed in the criminal investigation department.  Instead “internal security force” such as the Federal Reserve Unit, the Light Strike Force and the General Operations Forces forms 31%, while the Administrative, Management and Logistic Units form 40% of the police force.
   
2. The Police force must also reallocate its officers to urban centres.  Currently despite the fact that urban centres are more crime prone than rural areas, the former receives proportionately less allocations than the latter. For example, in Petaling Jaya city, the police to population ratio is 1:470 despite the fact that the national ratio is 1:270.
   
3. The Home Ministry must also support the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission as recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry, to help improve the professionalism and effectiveness of the Police force and regain the confidence and trust of the people in the force

With the rejection of the EO by the Attorney-General, we hope that the lobbying for its return by the BN hardliners will end.  Countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the Western countries are able to keep crime at very low levels without unjust laws on preventive detention. We believe that Malaysia can be equal to their achievements as long as our Police force makes crime-fighting their primary objective, and by improving their effectiveness and professionalism.

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Show Us Crime Stats Now, Why Wait Till September?

If Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi has proof that former Emergency Ordinance detainess account for 90% of the rise in crime, show Malaysians now.  Why wait until September?

Yesterday, Home Minister Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed he will present statistics from a recent study on crime in full at the next Parliament session to justify the need to revive the Emergency Ordinance (EO), to allow the Police to place suspects under detention without trial for 2 years.

He said “I obtained the statistics, which were derived empirically, that in Selangor, 90% of organised crimes were carried out by ex-detainees who were released from Simpang Renggam where they were held under the EO. I will present the statistics and the study in the Dewan Rakyat in the coming session, the September session, to prove the need for the EO.”

The perplexing question for us to ask the Home Minister is, if the study is already concluded, and he already have in his possession the study, why does he need to wait 2 months before the report is presented to the Parliament?  Why not present it next week while the Parliament is still in session?  In fact, even if the report isn’t yet presentable next week, he could always call for a press conference and release the results of the study.  There is absolutely no necessity to wait a whole 2 months “to prove the need for the EO”.

However, if you read into Dato’ Seri Zahid’s statement, one can only deduce that it is completely oxymoronic.  If the “study” even exists, then surely for a shocking 90% of the crimes to be identified as being carried out by ex-detainees who were released from Simpang Renggam, these “criminals” would have been identified, arrested, investigated and possibly even charged already.  But if they have been arrested and investigated – and there have been very few reports of such, then how come crime is still rampant and the Police still needs the EO?

Is the Minister trying to tell us that they have identified all the suspects of all the crime incidences over the past year but are unable to arrest and charge them?

In fact if Dato’ Seri Zahid’s allegation that 90% of these crimes were committed by former EO detainees were true, it actually doesn’t “prove the need for the EO”.  On the contrary, it only proved that the police force to be totally incompetent!  The question needs to be asked, that if the Police is indeed so certain of who committed 90% of these crimes, then why can’t they be charged in court and put in jail?  If the Police is unable to charge all of them, surely the Police is able to garner evidence and charge half or even a quarter of them?

However, based on the Home Minister’s argument, the Police are absolutely helpless without the EO to put these “criminals” to jail via our criminal justice system.  Hence the need for the Police to take the easy way out, by becoming the witness, prosecutor and judge to place these “criminals” under detention without trial.

Unlike Dato’ Seri Zahid who seems to have trouble coming up with concrete statistics, we have shown using past published police statistics have shown that the EO was completely ineffective in fighting rising crime. For example, the Malaysian crime index was rising rapidly from 2003 to 2008. At the peak, with the crime rate rose by 34.0% from 2004 to 2007.  During this period, the EO was readily available at the Police’s disposal and yet, crime was seemingly unstoppable.

However, despite the EO repeal at the end of 2011, the Police and the Home Ministry were claiming victory in the fight against crime, with the crime index declining by 7.6% in 2012.  Hence, based on the above official crime statistics presented by the Police themselves, how can the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi, now claim that the cause of rising crime is almost entirely due to the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance?

Therefore, just like Dato’ Seri Zahid’s utter nonsense over the “Red Bean Army” allegedly funded with hundreds of millions of ringgit by the DAP, this so-called study which shows 90% of organised crimes being committed by ex-EO detainees is a complete figment of Zahid’s imagination.  This study does not exist.

We are seriously concerned that the Home Minister is taking advantage of the public fear of rising crime to bring back draconian laws for sinister purposes in Malaysia, instead of focusing on how to improve the professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness of the Police in fighting crime.

We call upon both the IGP and the Home Minister to heed Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s advice when he announced the repeal of the EO, that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.”  Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.

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Police Says Crime Falling, But Blames EO for Rising Crime?

How can the repeal of Emergency Ordinance (EO) be the cause of rising crime, when our official crime index was at its peak before the EO was repealed?

The repeal of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) at the end of 2011 has been blamed by both the Government and the Royal Malaysian Police as the sole cause of rising crime in Malaysia, particularly in the urban centres.

The repeal of the Act has denied the Police the power to detain “suspects” without trial.  The Police has gone on the record that because they can’t put this criminals away bypassing the criminal justice system, these criminals are hence walking free in our streets to create havoc, resulting in the rising crime rate.

The issue at hand is whether the repeal of the EO is indeed the cause of rising crime, or has it become the convenient whipping boy for the Police to cover up the lack of professionalism and competence in solving crime cases as well as prevent crime incidences?

Despite all the sound and fury, the Police has yet to present a shred of evidence that the recent spate of rising crime is due to “hardened criminals” released from the Simpang Renggam detention centre.  It does not appear that the police has caught anyone involved in the recent spate of armed robberies which points strongly to the repeal of the EO as being the “cause”.

In fact, if we were to study the crime statistics over the past decade, it will actually show that during the years when the EO was in place, crime was still rising aggressively.

As shown in the Chart above, the Malaysian crime index was rising rapidly from 2003 to 2008. At the peak, with the crime rate rose by 34.0% from 2004 to 2007.  During this period, the EO was readily available at the Police’s disposal and yet, crime was seemingly unstoppable.

After the launch of the “Reducing Crime” National Key Result Area (NKRA) in 2009, the official crime index according to the Government has dropped significantly, from 209,417 in 2009 to 157,891 in 2011.  This was attributed under the Government Transformation Plan to greater allocation of resources to patrolling and fighting street crimes.  The “achievement” if true, was never ever attributed by the Police to perhaps, the increased use of the EO to detain alleged criminals without trial.

While we dispute the accuracy and completeness of the Police crime index, the Police has presented that crime levels in 2012 was the lowest in a decade at 145,891 or a decline of 7.6% from 2011.  Most tellingly, the decline of crime, according the police’s own statistics, was achieved despite the fact that the EO was repealed during the year.

Hence, based on the above official crime statistics presented by the Police themselves, how can the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi, now claim that the cause of rising crime is almost entirely due to the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance?

We call upon both the IGP and the Home Minister to heed Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s advice when he announced the repeal of the EO, that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.”  Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.

The focus of the debate to fight rising crime must be on how to improve the professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness of the Police in fighting crime.  It should not be on how new laws to allow for detention without trial can be drafted to overcome police incompetence.

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Home Minister and Inspector General of Police Should Stop Being Crybabies over EO

When the Emergency Ordinance (EO) was repealed in 2011, the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak announced that it had to be done away with as “technological improvements has rendered exile less then useful a deterrent to crime”.

In a speech to civil servants at the Razak School of Government in July 2012, he said that “in the old days, it was easy, if someone was bad, we just catch them and send them to places like Pasir Puteh, or maybe Jerantut.  But nowadays, it is useless as no matter how far you send them, with their cellphones, they can still do their work (commit crime).”

In fact the Prime Minister went so far as to call for the Malaysian police must now change they way they work.  He said that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.”  Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now provide evidence to charge them in court.

Earlier in April 2012, Dato’ Seri Najib also argued in his speech at the the installation of Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah as the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong that “the Government believes that after more than half a century of practising democracy since Independence, Malaysians have reached a high level of maturity… In view of this, we are now ready to enter a new era where the function of Government is no longer seen as limiting freedom of the individual but, instead, of ensuring that the basic rights as enshrined in the Constitution are protected”.

However, now both the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar are telling us that we need a return of the EO, or something similar to the EO with elements of detention without trial, in order to arrest rising crime in the country.

It appears that both Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi and Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar are telling both the Prime Minister and Malaysians at large that the Royal Malaysian Police, after being “pampered” by the EO for the past 42 years, are completely unable to “look for evidence.. and provide evidence to charge [criminals] in court”.

The Home Ministry appears to be fighting hard to reverse the political reforms put in place by Dato’ Seri Najib, by claiming that the rising rate of crime nationally was due to the lack of preventive laws to tackle these criminals and insiting that “the police must be given enough power” to deal with these “criminals”.

According to a Berita Harian report yesterday, Tan Sri Khalid also said that those who had criticised the police in its crime-busting capability should back this new law.

Malaysians are telling Tan Sri Khalid and all the supporters of the EO that criticising the police in its crime-busing capability is a call for them to improve their efficiency and professionalism.  It is certainly not a call to provide the police with unreasonable powers to detain “suspects” without those accused for crime a day in court.

There have been many case of abuse of the EO in the past where youths in their teens were first detained for 60 days and subsequently banished to Johor, Kedah and Pahang separately for two years, simply for alleged motorcycle theft.  These abuses and injustice occurs because the police force is so short handed in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), that they banished most of them to various detention centres throughout the country without ever completing their investigations, or collecting the necessary evidence to charge these suspects in a court of law.  The police were in effect, a law unto themselves.

We must never let these incidents of injustice happen again.  The Home Minister have announced that Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low and Nancy Shukri will lead in the drafting of the replacement EO Bill.  We call upon both of these Ministers to strongly reject any attempts to insert vague clauses with allows the Police discretionary powers to detain a person for any period of time without a fair trial.

In this case, we strongly endorse the Prime Minister’s call that “the police must now train themselves how to look for evidence… Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention”.  The IGP should stop whining incessantly about the inability to throw any suspect he likes into detention and start whipping the Royal Malaysian Police into shape, particularly by undertaking the reforms recommended in the 2005 Tun Dzaiddin Royal Commission of Inquiry Report.

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