DAP puzzled over Selangor police chief’s statements
Written by Melody Song, The Edge
The DAP leadership has responded with scathing remarks against Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar who said calls for a halt into an investigation of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was tantamount to “intimidation” of the police force.
In a strongly-worded statement today, DAP Perak chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham called upon Khalid to undergo a medical examination “to see if he suffers from schizophrenic tendencies”.
“The freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and if Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar is ignorant of this legal provision, he is unfit to be a police officer,” said Ngeh, condemning Khalid over the sedition investigation initiated against Lim for suggesting that DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock was murdered.
During his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention on Dec 18, Lim had said that Teoh had been “cruelly murdered”.
On Dec 24, the police began a probe against him with Khalid saying Lim’s remarks were “unsubstantiated” and “can be considered to be an incitement, causing the public to believe that Teoh Beng Hock had been murdered”.
Two days later, DAP Seri Kembangan state assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah defended Lim in a press statement, saying the police force was being “used by Barisan Nasional (BN) as part of their political machinery to attack Pakatan Rakyat” and was an attempt to cover up the truth behind Teoh’s death.
The next day, Khalid responded that Ean Yong’s statement to cease the investigation of Lim appeared to be an attempt to intimidate the police.
Ngeh, who is also the MP for Beruas, today said the police themselves “regularly” classified cases as murder when a killing occurred before initiating an investigation.
He challenged the 121,000-strong police force, asking if they had become “so weak that the statement by Ean Yong to request the police to stop investigating Lim Guan Eng caused (them) to be intimidated”.
Also condemning the investigation of Lim was DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy), who called it “senseless”, adding that the police themselves lodged the report to investigate Lim and Ean Yong under the Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act.
“Until today, nobody else but the police have lodged a report against Lim Guan Eng’s statement which was released during the Pakatan Rakyat convention on Dec 18, and Ean Yong’s press statement on Dec 26,” said Dapsy national press secretary Ng Wei Aik.
“We are puzzled that the police are more sensitive than our political foes over statements issued by DAP leaders.
“Dapsy regrets the police interference in the political arena, including taking action against non-Barisan Nasional leaders, while Umno leaders like Datuk Ahmad Ismail, former Umno leader for Bukit Bendera, who have made seditious statements in the past, have still not been charged in court to this date,” said Ng.
“We urge the Selangor police chief to make it his priority to fight crime and not political leaders by making baseless comments,” he said.
In a statement today, Ean Yong said he felt “shocked” that Khalid had accused him of issuing orders to the police to halt the investigation against Lim.
“In my statement on (online news portal) Malaysiakini, I only urged the police to stop the investigation against Guan Eng because the people want the police to investigate the truth behind Teoh Beng Hock’s death,” he said. “If the police found this suggestion too extreme, they can make their own decisions.”
Ean Yong said that as a Selangor state executive council member, he had no power to order the police to perform any actions. He added he was prepared to cooperate with the police if they wanted to record a statement from him.
