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Police – back off, be neutral and stop being catspaw to Umno leaders

Why was DAP Selangor State Executive councillor, Ronnie Liu arrested in so rough and high-handed a manner just before the Selangor State Exco meeting yesterday at the Selangor State Secretariat in Shah Alam?

One would have thought that Ronnie had become a dangerous criminal or had been guilty of some capital crime from the police operation, refusing to allow Ronnie to attend the Selangor State Exco meeting although he promised to surrender himself at the Puchong police station later.

In the event, Ronnie was in the Puchong police station for about 15 minutes when his brother came to post RM2,000 bail – to be charged at the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court on Monday.

What was Ronnie’s crime? For allegedly obstructing a Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) officer from carrying out his duty. When? Nov. 2 last year.

Is this the latest case of malicious prosecution? Continue reading “Police – back off, be neutral and stop being catspaw to Umno leaders”

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DNA Identification Bill – motion to refer it to Select Committee on Dec. 8

I will propose on December 8, when Parliament resumes debate on government bills after passing the 2009 Budget, a motion to refer the DNA Identification Bill – given second-reading passage on August 28 – to an all-party Select Committee to draft adequate safeguards to prevent police abuses and to protect human rights, in particular the right to privacy of Malaysians.

The country needs a DNA law to nab the guilty in crime and exonerate the innocent and there should be a healthy national debate on how Malaysia can have the best and most efficient DNA legislation in the world from the perspectives of science, criminology and human rights, learning the experience of other countries with DNA laws.

In Malaysia, however, public debate on the DNA Identification Bill has been overshadowed by grave concerns that it could be used as an instrument of political victimization and repression.

As Malaysia is suffering from an acute multiple crisis of confidence in key institutions of governance (never before in the nation’s history have police reports been lodged against the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General of Police and very soon the Chief Justice), it is beholden on the government to ensure that the DNA Identification Bill can secure the support of all sectors of society and not become a controversial subject of distrust and division among Malaysians.

This can be achieved if the DNA Identification Bill is the result of a fully consultative process involving all political parties and all sectors of society.
Continue reading “DNA Identification Bill – motion to refer it to Select Committee on Dec. 8”

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Azalina – honour your promise and table in Parliament PriceWaterhouse report on Pempena scandals

This is to remind the Tourism Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman that it is more than a week since her promise in Parliament to table the PriceWaterhouse report on the various financial scandals of Tourism Ministry’s subsidiary, Pempena Sdn. Bhd.

When replying to me in Parliament on Monday, 3rd November on the 2009 Budget, Azalina said that PriceWaterhouse report into the financial scandals of Pempena would only be ready two days later on Wednesday, and I specifically reminded her at the time to keep her undertaking to present the PriceWaterhouse report in Parliament.

In fact, when she was further questioned on the PriceWaterhouse report, the Deputy Speaker, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who was in the chair at the time, came to her rescue, urging MPs to “bersabar tunggu hari Rabu”…”hingga laporan selesai”.

In my speech on the 2009 budget on October 15, I had referred to the Oct. 13, 2008 expose by the Sun in the report “Over the limit…PSD ALLOWS MINISTER ONLY EIGHT STAFF, BUT 20 ON TOURISM MINISTRY’S PAYROLL”, calling in Parliament for a full explanation for the serious allegation that the tourism minister’s office “has excess baggage”, being overstaffed as “the appointment of some 20 staff breaches the Public Services Department (PSD)’s regulations limiting the appointments to only eight” and that “it defies a Treasury circular on cost-cutting and austerity”. Continue reading “Azalina – honour your promise and table in Parliament PriceWaterhouse report on Pempena scandals”