Before Parliament adjourned at 7.30 pm, I asked the Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Foo Ah Kiow to give a proper, informed and satisfactory report on the unprecedented phenomenon of “the police at war with itself” as well as “at war” with the Internal Security Ministry when he resumes his reply on behalf of his Ministry on the 2008 Budget tomorrow.
I had referred in particular to the three-page press statement earlier in the day by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Ramli Yusuff, where he made serious allegations about victimization of CCID officers by the police and mistreatment by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).
Ramli confirmed that he was the police officer being investigated for amassing RM27 million in undeclared assets and denied that he had amassed RM27 million.
Ramli said he had “until today remained silent about developments in the police force, in particular, the arrest and prosecution of officers of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) who are alleged to have falsified statements of confidential informants in connection with the banishment of one Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku”.
Goh, who was alleged to be an underworld kingpin in Johore, was ordered to be detained on the directive of Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharom based on the intelligence gathered by police officers of CCID.
Goh was eventually “banished” to Jeli, Kelantan and subsequently applied to the High Court to set aside Johari’s banishment order.
In Parliament today, I read out five paragraphs from Ramli’s three-page statement, viz:
“In an unprecedented stance, the legal adviser of the Ministry of Internal Security, an officer of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, declined to advise and direct my officers and I (to) prepare affidavits of the events surrounding the preparation of the investigative papers on Goh for the benefit of the deputy minister of internal security.
“Those affidavits were to be filed in the High Court arising from the application by Goh to have his banishment order set aside. Given the constraints of time, we, the officers of the CCID, sought legal advice from a private law practice who advised and assisted in the preparation of the draft affidavits concerned.
“I was under advice at the time that the attorney-general (Abdul Gani Patail) was under a duty to advise and assist us in the preparation of the said affidavits under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and the Government Proceedings Act, 1956.
“My officers and I were then directed to deliver up the confidential case files containing the names of the confidential informants to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. I have since been aware that officers of the ACA have tracked down these informants and taken statements from them. Subsequently, these informants have made further statements in connection with their seeking (of) protection from the deputy minister of internal security… .
“I am gravely concerned by the manner in which the identities of police informants are dealt with in investigations carried out by the ACA. The identities of the informants were obtained through the circumvention of the Inspector General’s Standing Orders. Given these events, there exists a clear and present danger as to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.”
I said in Parliament that this would be the first time in the 50-year history of the nation that the police is at war with itself as well as with the Ministry of Internal Security, with the ACA and the Attorney-General taking sides, and asked what is the Minister for Internal Security who is also the Prime Minister doing to end such fratricidal strife in his own backyard..
I observed that if the identities of police informants could be blown and exposed to victimization, which whistleblower would have confidence to come forward to give information — making a total mockery of the repeated assurances of protection by various parties, including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, the Police, the ACA and the three-man Haidar Panel to the person or persons who had recorded the Lingam Tape to surface publicly and reveal themselves.
Let’s wait for Chapter 2 of “Police At War With Itself” tomorrow.