Archive for category Police

Hishammuddin should send the OCPDs of Brickfields and Ampang Jaya to a human rights sensitization course

Malaysians are shocked by the outrageous conduct of the OCPDs of Brickfields and Ampang Jaya, Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Talib and Abd Jalil Hassan, whose boorish conduct are caught on video, serving as prime examples of police officers who have no notion or respect for human rights or even civil behaviour.

Both of them have brought shame not only to the country, but also to the Royal Malaysian Police Force, in their unprofessional conduct and excessive display of police power – showing utter contempt for elected representatives of the people and ordinary members of the public.

When police officers could summon massive police reinforcements to deal with a small and peaceful group of civic-minded Malaysians lighting candles to send their message of protest to the authorities over the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak, something is very wrong with the training of police officers. In fact, something is very wrong with the direction the country is heading.
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Police must change or fail

by Tunku Aziz

MAY 22 — Criticisms of the PDRM (Polis Di-Raja Malaysia) have lately turned ugly: they have been reduced to what amounts to a hate campaign. I believe this attitude is totally counterproductive because as citizens we deserve the police service we get. In other words, unless we are prepared to work with them, they will not succeed.

That said, PDRM must change with the times, and change what is known all over the world as the police culture of impunity. Police training must naturally cover traditional aspects of policing, but in today’s terms nothing is more important than for our police to understand the issue of human rights and the rights of the individual to police protection without regard to race or colour. Officers at every level of the service must subject themselves and their actions to the closest public scrutiny. Members of the public today are no longer mesmerised by the shiny little badges of rank that elbow for space on their very crowded epaulette.

Members of the Royal Malaysian Police belong to an honourable profession that, in our country, is more than two centuries old. The PDRM is older than the London Metropolitan Police (1829) and the New York City Police Department (1843). They are the inheritors of a long and proud tradition of service to the people of this country. And we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.
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Ganesan’s presence caused and contributed to State Assembly ruckus

By P Ramakrishnan | President Aliran
18 May 2009

The claim by self-proclaimed Speaker of the Perak State Assembly, R Ganesan, that he had no choice but to summon the police into the House at the height of the ruckus during the May 7 sitting, is dubious and deceiving (Sunday Star 17 May 2009). There is no merit in his claim.

In the first instance, his entry into and his very presence in the Assembly is questionable. How on earth did Ganesan get into the Assembly? The Assembly building was out of bounds to all except the elected members of the Assembly.

There was a police cordon to prevent all the others from entering the Assembly. A 500 metre no-access zone was declared and anyone found anywhere near this perimeter were either chased away or were arrested when they resisted the police orders.

Even Perak Members of Parliament were denied access to the Assembly. Veteran MP Lim Kit Siang was refused entry into the building in spite of the fact that he had come with the invitation letter from the Speaker to attend the Assembly sitting.
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The Lesson From Perak

by M. Bakri Musa

The current political paralysis in Perak reflects the major failures of our key institutions. It is a total breakdown at the palace, the legislature, and the permanent establishment. It also exposes the glaring inadequacies of the judicial system which has yet to adjudicate this critical and urgent matter of state.

It is not however, the failure of the people, as some pundits have implied by quoting the old adage that we deserve the government we get. It is the voters’ prerogative whether to grant the incumbent party a stunning victory, humble it with an unstable slim majority, or even throw it into the ranks of the opposition. Canada and Italy have a long history of minority governments, and they have managed well.

A mark of a mature democracy, or any system for that matter, is the transfer of power from one entity to another smoothly and predictably. Perak is a spectacular failure; it is also a preview for Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »

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A number 1BlackMalaysia day indeed

by Beth Yahp
Malaysiakini
May 7, 09

Yesterday I was hoping against hope that everything I know about the current political culture in Malaysia would today be proved wrong.

I’d hoped that democratic ‘due process’ would indeed take place in the Perak state assembly—and its environs—and that it would be upheld by lawmakers, police, civil servants, and the courts of justice who purportedly serve the Malaysian people who put them in office and, directly or indirectly, continue to pay their salaries.

Instead, what I’ve watched unfolding today is a scene directly from a police state: barbed wire cordoning off a democratic house of assembly; activists, lawmakers and ordinary rakyat being intimidated and arrested like criminals, because apparently it’s now a crime to wear black and have breakfast in the vicinity of the one place where your voice as a citizen is supposed to be heard. Fairly and freely. Read the rest of this entry »

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Why Najib’s good Vesak Day message fell flat

I commend the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for a great Vesak Day message, when he called on Malaysians not to focus on differences between one another, but to look for similarities and common ground,

Although Najib invoked the call “In the spirit of human progress, in the spirit of developing this great country, in the spirit of 1Malaysia”, it unfortunately fell flat because the actions of his government in his first month as Prime Minister failed to match his slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

Despite his attendance at the Vesak celebrations at the Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Buddhist Temple in Jenjarom yesterday, Najib had not been able to evoke the electrifying effect his predecessor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi created in his first Christmas message as Prime Minister in his second month in office in December 2003, and when he was guest-of-honour at the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM)’s Christmas reception in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur six years ago.

Najib and his think-tank should give deep and serious study as to why his premiership has not been able to launch off successfully despite various goodies and promises of more to come. Read the rest of this entry »

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Stop Press : Serdang MP among those arrested outside Brickfields police station

Update 11.10pm : Teo Nie Ching, Serdang MP was released.

Update : Arrested count is now 14

Update : 11 arrested by police.

8 people including Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching was arrested while holding a vigil in support of Wong Chin Huat infront of Brickfields police station.

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Ipoh Police – don’t prop up usurper Zambry’s hocus pocus May 7 State Assembly proceedings

The Ipoh Police have done enough damage to its reputation and professionalism in its conduct during the three-month Perak constitutional and political crisis, being used by the usurper Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir to undermine the important democratic principle and fundamental doctrine of the separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

The Police should not now allow itself to be used to prop up usurper Zambry and his executive council’s hocus pocus proceedings in the May 7 Perak State Assembly but must be aware that it has the sworn duty to protect the Perak State Assembly Speaker A. Sivakumar and all Perak State Assembly members (including Pakatan Rakyat) from interference from any quarter in the discharge of their powers and privileges.

In a political contest between the rightful and legitimate Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin and the usurper and illegitimate Zambry, the least expected of the police is to stay out of the political fray and not to take sides, or the police will be seen as trying to prop up an usurper Zambry regime that has no legitimacy whatsoever in the eyes of the people of Perak.

This is why reports by Pakatan Rakyat Assembly members that they were being harassed by the police personnel who snapped photographs of their family houses last weekend must be deplored in the strongest terms and taken seriously by the top police officers who must give the satisfactory assurance that they will not be used to support the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak. Read the rest of this entry »

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Time for IGP Musa to resign when crime rampages beyond police control until even the JB South OCPD is tied up and robbed at knife point in his house

It is time for the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to resign when crime rampages on in the country beyond police control until even the Johore Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob was tied up and robbed at knife point in his house in Johore Baru on Thursday morning.

ACP Zainuddin was home alone when three men, believed to be Indonesians, tied him up and ransacked his home at about 5.45 am on Thursday, leaving later with some cash and valuables.

The tying-up and robbing at knife-point of an OCPD in his own house is not just a humiliating episode for the Malaysian police, but highlights the sheer inability of the police force to bring crime under check and control, especially in the several capitals of crime in the country.

One of the greatest failures of the Abdullah premiership is his failure to reduce crime to restore to Malaysians their fundamental right to be free from crime and the fear of crime, whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Disgraceful 45-hr police “cat-and-mouse game” on Ganabatirau and Kengadharan’s ISA release

As of now, Sunday, 5th April 2009 at 5.10 pm, the two Hindraf leaders V. Ganabatirau and R. Kenghadharan,have still not regained their freedom 45 hours after the new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had announced in his maiden speech to the nation over television on Friday night at 8 pm that both of them, together with 11 other Internal Security Act detainees, would be “immediately released”.

Also despite the belated assurance by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan yesterday that the ISA detainees will be allowed to leave Kamunting Detention Centre today, saying

“They cannot be released immediately. The documentation process has to be completed first. We will release all of them tomorrow after the documentation process has been completed.”

The families of Ganabatirau and Kengadharan were made to wait for hours under the hot sun yesterday and today and have not been allowed contact to see them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sombre curtain closers marking Abdullah’s abysmal failures in police reforms

The police used excessive and unnecessary force today, firing tear gas and water cannons, against peaceful protestors gathered to submit a memorandum to the Yang di Pertuan Agong at the Istana Negara opposing the use of English to teach science and mathematics from Standard One.

It is another example of the failure and futility of the blue-ribboned Royal Police Commission set up by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he first took office in 2003, and which came out with 125 recommendations to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional, world-class police service with three core functions to reduce crime, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.

In Abdullah’s last hundred days as the fifth Prime Minister, illustrations galore are being given by the police highlighting the failure and futility of the Royal Police Commission, with a former Chief Justice, Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah in the chair and the country’s most famous and longest serving Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar as deputy chairman.

These recent police outrages and scandals include: Read the rest of this entry »

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Pak Lah’s Legacy

By Tunku Aziz
Mysinchew.com

As the prime minister begins the process of winding down his stewardship of this country that he inherited from his now much despised predecessor, he would have been less than human if he did not reflect upon the highlights and the low points of his stewardship that in turn cheered and depressed him.

He must wonder why, after such a promising start, fate should have intervened to deal him such a cruel hand. The humiliation of being forced to get on the bicycle and ride off alone into the political sunset prematurely has been, he must admit, largely self-inflicted.

He must sometimes wonder why he was so incredibly naïve as to swallow the proverbial hook, line and sinker, the assurances and protestations of complete and undying loyalty so glibly and convincingly uttered by his closest associates.

I personally would not myself touch them with a long barge pole, but then I suppose I am of a suspicious nature.

When Abdullah Badawi took over the reigns of government, I was among those invited by the media to comment on what his legacy might be. We were swept and overwhelmed by the euphoria of the moment, the dawn of a blessed new era and the end of a morally degrading and debilitating regime. Read the rest of this entry »

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How Many Deaths Does it Take?

By Farish A. Noor

Commenting on the loss of credibility and legitimacy of the Burmese state security forces in the eyes of the Burmese people and the international community, the Burmese activist leader Aung San Su Kyi once said: “All they have left are their guns”.

Indeed, if the possession of a badge is the only thing that differentiates a law enforcement officer from the ordinary public or the criminal fraternity, then it can be said that the line between law enforcement and the absence of law and order is a fine one. It has become a truism worldwide that once that line is fatefully and fatally crossed, it would be next to impossible to redeem the reputation and standing of any law enforcement agency again. This was the case of the police in South Africa during the days of Apartheid, whose job it was not to protect all South African citizens but rather to prop up the Apartheid regime at the cost of the freedom of others. The same applies to the stained reputation of the security forces of many other developing countries, from Zimbabwe to Pakistan to Sri Lanka to the Philippines, whose job it seems is to protect the ruling parties and the political elite rather than to provide for the safety of the population at large.

Today Malaysia seems to be heading down the same path as more and more revelations of misdemeanours among the state security forces come to light. The most recent case being that of Kugan Ananthan, a 22-year old who was arrested by the Malaysian police on suspicion of being part of a luxury car-theft racket. Kugan was later found dead at the Subang Jaya police station, and the initial explanation for his death was ‘water in the lungs’. Read the rest of this entry »

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Let Kugan not die in vain – entire Cabinet should resign if no RCI and IPCMC

A. Kugan would not have died in police custody if the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) had been operational since May 2006 as recommended by the Police Royal Commission headed by former Chief Justice Tun Dzaiddin and former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar.

If the IPCMC, the key proposal of the 125 recommendations of the Police Royal Commission to transform the Malaysian police force into an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to discharge its three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption in the police force and uphold human rights had been set up in accordance with the timeline as proposed, a new mindset and culture of responsibility, accountability and professionalism would have been disseminated and developed in the police force in the past 30 months and saved the life of Kugan.

As it is, even the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar does not have this requisite mindset that he could come out with his latest howler, when he said that “the people should not regard criminals as heroes and the police who enforce the law as demons”.

This statement, as outrageous as his previous howler when he said last September that the Sin Chew senior reporter Tan Hoon Cheng had been detained under the infamous Internal Security Act for her personal safety, is strong testimony that Hamid is not capable of being a reformist Home Minister to undertake long-needed and far-reaching police reforms. Read the rest of this entry »

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KT by-election – Najib not campaigning as DPM and police should not apply double-standards

The police in Kuala Terengganu by-election campaign should not apply double standards and should treat Datuk Seri Najib Razak as one of the party leaders in town for the by-election and not as a Deputy Prime Minister or Prime Minister-elect.

At a time when the retiring Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is trying to give new life to his National Integrity Plan and anti-corruption efforts in his last three months in office, the way the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election is conducted will be a test as to whether his national integrity efforts and the newly-minted Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have any real meaning.

For instance, would the police in Kuala Terengganu treat Najib at par with other party leaders, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, for the duration of the by-election, as there is no business for a Deputy Prime Minister to be campaigning in Kuala Terengganu in his official capacity.

Najib is in Kuala Terengganu as UMNO Deputy President and Barisan Nasional Deputy Chairman and not as Deputy Prime Minister, and this distinction must be scrupulously observed not only by the police and all relevant government departments but also by Najib himself!

Najib should dispense with the horde of police outriders during his visit to Kuala Terengganu to show that he is not abusing his powers and be an example to all other Ministers and VIPs – that they should not misuse scarce police personnel and resources in having to provide outriders and escorts. Read the rest of this entry »

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Anti-Prophet Mohammad blog – Hamid, Shabery, MCMC should explain why so tardy in taking action

While all right-thinking Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, agree that stern action should be taken against those responsible for the blog which insults Prophet Mohammad, many are asking why the authorities have been so tardy and laid-back in acting when complaint was first made many weeks ago.

Although Utusan Malaysia first reported about the blog last Saturday, 27th December 2008, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, responding on the same day by directing the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and the police to act quickly against the blog over insults to Prophet Muhammad, in actual fact, the authorities had been aware of the blog concerned for weeks.

This was revealed by the Information Minister, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek who said on Saturday that the woman in her 20s whose photograph and identify were used in the blog containing insults to Prophet Mohammed had denied owning the Internet domain and had in fact met him two weeks ago to ask RTM to help clear her name. Read the rest of this entry »

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Third reason why Musa not fit to be IGP for another day

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has provided another reason to the two I gave in Parliament yesterday when moving a censure RM10 salary-cut motion against him why he is not fit to continue as the top police officer in the country for another day.

This new evidence is provided by today’s New Straits Times front-page headlines of Musa’s speech yesterday, “Top cop blasts errant politicians”, which carried front-page quotes by Musa, viz:

“Don’t be role models for criminals, says IGP” and

“Politicians should be helping to build a better society instead of destroying it. If politicians do not respect the law, then criminals would do the same.”

I do not know about other politicians but I feel deeply offended by Musa’s smug and conceited statement for two reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

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IGP more a lobbyist for police mega projects than a police leader to keep crime low

I am moving a censure motion against the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan by way of a RM10 cut motion for two reasons.

During the debate on the 2009 Budget and the winding-up by the Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heong on 30th October 2008, I had asked but failed to get satisfactory reply on why the Inspector-General of Police had become the chief lobbyist for mega police projects like the proposed RM20 billion police helicopter deal to hire 34 helicopters from syarikat AsiaCopter for 30 years and the RM4.2 billion “E-Police Force Solution”, satu rangkaian sistem wireless digital sepenuhnya yang berasaskan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi (ICT) yang canggih dengan litupan selurah negara proposed by syarikat Web Power Sdn. Bhd when his chief duty as IGP is to ensure an efficient, professional and world-class police force to keep crime low to enable Malaysians, tourists and investors to feel safe in Malaysia.

Chor even denied that Musa had written a letter to the Second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, on 12th February 2007 endorsing the RM20 billion Asiacopter proposal to rent out 34 helicopters to the police for 30 years. I cannot understand how Chor could come to the House to deny that the IGP had sent a letter of endorsement and lobbying for AsiaCopter’s RM20 billion proposal to rent 34 helicopters to the police for 30 years, when Chor admitted that he had not asked the IGP whether there was such a letter.

Chor also made a bald denial that the IGP had endorsed the Web Power’s RM4.2 billion “E-Police Force Solution” proposal.

I have here a copy of the letter from the IGP to the Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop dated 12th February 2007 on the subject “Cadangan Kontrak Sewaan Helicopter Kepada Polis Diraja Malaysia Selama 30 Tahun Melalui Private Funding Initiative (PFI)”, where Musa gave his full endorsement for the proposal when he wrote: Read the rest of this entry »

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IGP’s statistical sleight-of-hand to explain away worsening crime index

Malaysians are shocked that the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan is deadly serious with his ridiculous ploy to explain away the worsening crime index with a statistical sleight-of-hand by claiming that it is purely a problem of misperception by Malaysians, tourists and investors.

What is outrageous is that the Cabinet and the National Economic Council could be browbeaten so easily by the IGP on Tuesday to accept such a ridiculous ploy, to the extent that this has been adopted as the official policy position as to be publicly enunciated by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak two days ago.

Musa has claimed that figures show that Malaysia is a relatively safe country with 772 crimes for every 100,000 residents in the country. This ratio compares favourably with Hong Kong where there are 1,166 cases for every 100,000 residents; Japan 1,569 cases and Australia 4,470 cases.

Taken as a whole, the statistics showed that only Singapore with 704 cases per 100,000 residents had a safer environment.

It is a reflection of the intellectual inadequacy and poverty of the Cabinet Ministers and National Economic Council members that they could be so easily bamboozled by the IGP with suspect statistics and data.

The statistics given by the IGP to show that Malaysia is safer than Japan and Hong Kong are most misleading and unacceptable, as different definitions are used as to render a proper comparison quite useless.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Fight crime not fight perception

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was being most frivolous and irresponsible when he adopted lock, stock and barrel the line that the biggest police challenge is not to fight crime but the perception that crime is serious in Malaysia!

He trotted out the argument that statistics indicate that crime rate in Malaysia is lower than Japan and Hong Kong, with the logical conclusion that that it is safer in Malaysia than in Japan and Hong Kong.

When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister five years ago, the crime situation was so bad that one of his top priorities was to establish a Royal Police Commission to create an efficient and professional world-class police service to keep crime low.

The Royal Police Commission said in its report in 2005 that the crime index of 156,455 cases of crime for 2004 “seriously dented Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country” and recommended an immediate reduction of the crime index by 20 per cent in the next 12 months.

What has happened in the past four years? For two consecutive years, the crime index had reached endemic proportions, crashing through the 200,000 barrier in 2007 and 2008 – and yet we have a Prime Minister-designate publicly repudiating the Prime Minister’s previous stance by claiming that the problem is not crime but public perception on crime when Malaysians feel even more unsafe from crime with every passing year.

Even the Selangor Sultan is very concerned about the crime situation in Selangor and the country.

This is what the Sultan of Selangor said in an interview with Star on crime:

I continue to receive complaints from the rakyat on the ground situation. I read about crime in the newspapers and even at dinner conversations. People talk about it. It’s not just a Selangor problem but a national problem. In Selangor, we have the highest crime rate because the population is now the biggest in Malaysia. This is also a place which attracts outsiders and foreigners because of job opportunities. Social problems such as crime comes naturally unfortunately. It is expected.

I have been told that crime prevention has improved. The Selangor police are saying that this is their most successful period in the last 10 years with the state index showing a marginal increase. Gombak, Ampang, Shah Alam, Kuala Langat, Hulu Selangor and Sepang districts show decreases overall.

I am sure the police are trying their best but perceptions are important. If the public do not feel safe on the street or even at home, no amount of assurances would be good enough. Even the homes of police officers are burgled. That is bad. There should be more policemen on the streets. People feel safe when they see policemen on patrol. Traffic cops alone are not good enough.

Najib’s claim that Malaysia is safer than Japan and Hong Kong based on crime statistics is highly suspect as the basis and definition for the crime indices in the two countries vary greatly.

DAP National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua has a more detailed statement on the fallacies of Najib’s comparative data.

But what cries out for answer is why Najib should sell the irresponsible line that Malaysia is comparatively safe, safer than Japan and Hong Kong?

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