Kit Siang calls MACC ‘Gestapo’, asks for controls
By Neville Spykerman | The Malaysian Insider
PETALING JAYA, Aug 15 — DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang today slammed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as the Gestapo for its high-handed manner in arresting political aide Wong Chuan How.
The special assistant to Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu for the Barisan Nasional-held Sungai Pelek constituency was injured during a scuffle with MACC officers outside his office yesterday.
Lim said the MACC officers who when to meet Wong at his service centre in Sungai Pelek had gone back on their word by trying to arrest him.
An appointment had been made earlier for Wong to meet the MACC as a witness in ongoing investigations into alleged impropriety in state allocations. But five officers turned up at the service centre said he was a suspect and wanted him to follow them to their office in Putrajaya.
“How did he become a suspect when he was previously just a witness and this shows they are not sincere in their investigations,” the Ipoh Timur MP told reporters.
In light of what happened to Teoh Beng Hock who was found dead last month at the MACC office, two lawyers with Wong insisted he lodge a police report at the Sungai Pelek police station before he followed them to Putrajaya and the MACC officers agreed.
However, three unidentified men tried to handcuff and drag Wong to their car as he walked out of his service centre.
There is no question about Wong resisting arrest because the men did not identify themselves, Lim said.
In the struggle, Wong fell to the ground and injured his right leg while struggling with the men.
Lim noted that MACC had broken their promise again and called on MACC advisory panels to rein in the MACC which seem to have even greater powers than the police.
He also pointed out that the MACC seems to be overly focus on Pakatan Rakyat while ignoring the ongoing RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo’s alleged RM24 million mansion and the RM10 million donation received by MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat.
Wong, whose right leg was bandaged and was seen moving with the support of a walker, confirmed he did not know who the three men were and said he has no confidence in the MACC.
“The MACC is not independent and a tool which is being used by the Barisan Nasional to topple the Selangor government.” said Wong, adding he was not even found guilty yet but was treated like a criminal.
Wong’s boss Liu took the MACC officers to task for refusing to identify the three men involved in grabbing his assistant.
“I asked several officers to provide us their names but they themselves claim they did not know who they were,” Liu said, adding he did meet the men at the police station later.
Liu added there is no doubt the MACC was being selective in their prosecution.
He claimed no investigations has been done on the previous Barisan lawmakers who had spent RM500,000 in annual allocations, in just two months, prior to the March 8 general elections last year.
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Wong tells his side of the story
Andrew Ong | Malaysiakini
What would a rational person do if they were grabbed by a group of unidentified individuals? Escape obviously – and that is what DAP political aide Wong Chuan How said he did.
When several Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers tried to arrest him yesterday, Wong put up a struggle because he was “worried for his life”.
“The tried to put handcuffs on me, but they never once said who they were and where were they taking me,” said Wong, who suffered injuries to his knee during the scuffle.
According to Wong, prior to the incident, he had reached an understanding with five MACC officers that he would not be taken to the commission’s headquarters in Putrajaya until he lodged a police report.
“I wanted to lodge a police report to prove that I was still alive at that time,” said Wong, in reference to the death of another DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock last month in MACC’s premises.
Wong was speaking to reporters today at a press conference at the national DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya, flanked by DAP top brass.
Yesterday morning, five MACC officers had met Wong at Sungai Pelek DAP’s service centre where he was supposed to be questioned as a witness.
‘My duty to cooperate with MACC’
However, Wong, flanked by his two lawyers, said he was stunned when the five MACC officers produced a warrant of arrest for an unspecified offence.
After some reservations, the MACC officers allowed Wong to lodge a police report before being taken to the commission’s headquarters, but upon stepping out of the building, several men in plain clothes tried to put handcuffs on Wong.
Wong was heard shouting, “I want my life, I don’t want to die” during the melee where he was grabbed from behind by an unidentified MACC officer, before the 50-year-old fell and injured his knee.
Three X-rays were subsequently performed at the Sedang hospital. He was discharged at about 10pm last night, after his wife posted a RM3,000 bail to the MACC.
Despite the drama, Wong said he will still cooperate with the MACC because it was his responsibility to do so as an aide to Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu.
He appealed to the MACC to be “less hostile” in the future to other suspects or witnesses, adding that even criminals should be treated humanely.
‘MACC akin to gestapo’
Wong is believed to be investigated over irregularities in the use of state funds in the BN-held Sungai Pelek constituency.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (left) was incensed with the MACC for going against their word twice during the episode yesterday and likened their conduct to “gangsters and gestapo”.
He said there was no need to use force on Wong when he had already agreed to surrender himself after lodging a police report.
He also chided MACC for the need to arrest Wong, without prior investigations.
“Did they arrest anyone in the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal? What about Khir Toyo’s RM24 million mansion?… Do they have the power to arrest anyone based solely on suspicion, and thus create terror?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Wong’s employer Ronnie Liu said there was no excuse for the plainclothes MACC officers for not identifying themselves to Wong.
“Even the FRU (riot police) wear their identifications now. Why should MACC officers be an exception?” he asked.
He added that during the last state exco meeting, it was decided that the MACC would only be allowed to have copies of state assemblyperson’s expenditure and not the originals.
“This is to prevent possible tampering,” said Liu.
MACC denies pushing Wong
MACC, in a statement yesterday, denied that force was used against Wong.
“Our officers served the notice of arrest under Section 53(3) of MACC Act 2009 on Wong.
“The officers also explained the notice to Wong and requested him to sign it but he refused,” the statement said.
Wong was escorted to the MACC car which was parked outside the premises.
At this juncture, he refused to get into the car and walked away but the officers tried to stop him and insisted that he got into the car.
“He then fell to the ground by himself at this point,” the statement said.
The MACC officers had lodged a counter police report.