Ex-DPM’s son released after being questioned over blog post on Agong’s abdication
(MMO) – Datuk Mohd Tamrin Abdul Ghafar was released by police this afternoon after he was questioned for three hours over two blog posts relating to Sultan Muhammad V who yesterday stepped down as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Earlier today, he was summoned to have his statement recorded by police officers at Bukit Aman’s commercial crime investigation department at Menara 238, Jalan Tun Razak.
He was questioned over a January 3 blog post that touched on Sultan Muhammad V’s two-month leave for medical treatment in early November last year, which was also when international media reported the Kelantan Ruler’s purported marriage to a former Russian beauty queen.
The 71-year-old son of former deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba told Malay Mail: “Yes, two CID officers questioned me and recorded my statement over two blog posts relating to the former Agong Sultan Muhammad V.
“One was published on January 3 this year and another was an earlier entry on December 23 last year,” he said.
Mohd Tamrin said he cooperated with the police officers and understood that they were carrying out their duties.
He said other than having his statement taken, his personal mobile phone was seized pending investigations.
Mohd Tamrin, who was accompanied by his lawyer, did not reply under which laws the police were investigating him under.
He added that he was confident that his blog post did not violate any laws, nor did it belittle or insult the Malaysian royal institution.
“What I wrote was my opinion as a Malaysian regarding the current state of affairs surrounding our country’s constitutional monarch,” the former Batu Berendam MP said.
On January 3, Mohd Tamrin wrote a 25-point post in Malay, titled “Antara King Edward VIII dan King Muhammad V” (Between King Edward VIII and King Muhammad V), urging the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare if he had indeed married during his two-month absence.
He said Malaysians had a right to know if Sultan Muhammad V had indeed married former Miss Moscow Oksana Voevodina in Russia, as such an event was of national interest, as he was the king of the country.
Mohd Tamrin drew parallels between the Sultan’s situation and that of former British monarch King Edward VIII, who stepped down due to his marriage with American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
On December 23, Mohd Tamrin wrote a 44-point post in Malay, titled “From Russia With Love”, that questioned the then Agong’s marital status and his brief role as the head of the country’s constitutional monarch.
Mohd Tamrin is no stranger to controversy involving the royal institution. In March last year, more than 100 police reports were lodged against him for allegedly insulting the country’s royal institution in another blog post titled “Sultan Bukan Tuhan” (Sultan is not God).
In the 2018 post, he touched on known historical facts, the role of the federal Constitution, the rights of the people, the law and his advice to the Malay rulers.
