Police to quiz Kit Siang for sedition, defamation

Kit Siang speaking at last Sunday’s ceramah in Penanti.

PENANG, May 30 — DAP leader Lim Kit Siang will be the latest politician questioned by police today for alleged sedition and criminal defamation, this time apparently against the prime minister at the start of the Penanti by-election campaign.

Lim said police officers came to a ceramah in Penanti last night where he was speaking to inform him that he will be questioned in connection with defamation and sedition related to Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his speech last Sunday.

"Apparently I'm wanted by police 4 sedition & criminal defamation of Najib + Malaysia," Lim posted in his Twitter account at about 1.30am.

"I told the police to come to my Penang house to question me. I don't know what it’s about as I gave three speeches that night," the Ipoh Timur MP told The Malaysian Insider.

He said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is his son, lawyers and reporters are expected to be there as well when the police turn up at 11.30am.

In one of his speeches last Sunday at a ceramah in Bukit Mertajam, the veteran politician said Najib was the primary target in the Penanti by-election as it was “a referendum on the credibility, integrity and legitimacy of Najib in his second month as Prime Minister”.

Kit Siang accused Najib of allowing the police to conduct an unprecedented raid on the DAP national head office in Petaling Jaya.

He said Najib's “1 Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan has been shredded and discredited with the Perak political crisis, abuse of police power in curbing political dissent, unequal distribution of scholarships and the delayed release of the audit on the Port Klang Free Zone.

He has been campaigning strongly in the Penanti by-election despite Barisan Nasional's absence on the ballot paper. Polling day is tomorrow.

Kit Siang this morning noted the new government method to “fix” the opposition or dissent by using sedition and criminal defamation charges instead of the Internal Security Act (ISA) that provides for detention without trial.

His colleague, DAP national chairman Karpal Singh, is facing a sedition charge while rights activist Wong Chin Huat was held recently for alleged sedition.

Kit Siang and Karpal have previously been held under the ISA.

Controversial blogger and Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin has been slapped with criminal defamation and sedition charges apart from being previously held under the ISA for allegations linking Najib and his wife to the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu.

RPK, as he is popularly known, has skipped bail and is said to have left the country.

The Sedition Act is, however, perceived to be less oppressive than the ISA but yet drafted in such a way that it gives the government absolute power to make arrests on its political enemies.

According to section 4 (1) of the Sedition Act, a person is considered to have committed an offence under this law if he or she attempts to do, or make any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act which has or would, if done, have a seditious tendency.

It further read that any person is found to have committed an offence under this law if he or she utters any seditious words, prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes, or reproduces any seditious publications or imports any seditious publications.

Yet in all of this, there is no real and clear definitive guideline as to what constitutes sedition.

Dirty Trick Created By Gani and Musa

Read it the proper by understand it the reverse way. It plotted by Musa dan Gani. Why?. Just becouse it relate to DSAI kes. Datuk Mat Zain being trapped.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim, the police officer who investigated Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s black-eye assault in 1998, today claimed a high-level plot using a bankruptcy notice to destroy his credibility ahead of several cases including the opposition leader’s sodomy case in July.

State news agency Bernama yesterday reported that Mat Zain was declared a bankrupt on April 21 for failing to settle a RM250,000 loan and was served with the notice on May 26. The news was carried by several Malaysian publications including The Malaysian Insider which subscribes to the Bernama service.

“I say with certainty that there are very powerful hidden hands that wanted it so. Their reasons are to destroy my credibility and/or to paralyze my capabilities and preventing me from giving evidence against Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan for fabricating evidence in the “black-eye” case of 1998 involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” said Mat Zain in a statement.

Mat Zain, who went on optional retirement in 2001 as the KL CID chief, said he believed the bankruptcy notice is related to his appeal to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory board to clear his name after the anti-graft agency cleared only Gani and Musa from charges of fabrication lodged by Anwar.

“I have reasons to believe that the prosecution team anticipated that Anwar will certainly raise at certain point of his trial the issue of fabrication of evidence in the black-eye case. My evidence would be vital at this stage. Their only option is to destroy my credibility.

“Though this publication may cause some inconvenience to me and my family, but I take it as a blessing and that it will only enhance my resolve to disclose the whole truth of the “black-eye” episode.

“Believe me, that this is not the only case the duo had their fingers in. There are others which are as sensational. The truth shall prevail,” Mat Zain said.

He claimed that he investigated the black-eye incident without fear or favour and had his statement recorded five times by the precursor to MACC, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) when Anwar lodged a report on July 1, 2008 that Gani, Musa, Mat Zain and Dr Abdul Rahman Yusof had falsified a medical report on the assault case.

But MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan announced on March 3 that a three-member independent panel led by the Solicitor-General had scrutinised the investigation papers and cleared Gani and Musa of criminal wrongdoing, prompting Mat Zain to later appeal the findings.

“However, I am justified to state that the Prime Minister was never told the true and entire facts of this issue. Should the truth be told, I believe the PM would have taken the appropriate actions,” Mat Zain said.

He disclosed that he has instructed his lawyers to look into the bankruptcy matter as he had never received any notice of a hearing related to a suit by businessman Yap Thoong Choan, 72, of Damansara Heights, filed on Aug 10, 2004, against Mat Zain at the Bandar Baru Bangi Sessions Court claiming the remaining RM250,000 of a loan which was not settled.

He said in his statement of claim that Mat Zain, 60, had taken a RM500,000 loan via an agreement signed by both parties on Feb 22, 2002, and it was agreed that the loan was to be settled on or before Aug 21, 2002.

Yap said that so far, Mat Zain had settled RM250,000 of the amount. A letter of demand for the remaining RM250,000, dated July 14, 2004, was sent to Mat Zain but he failed to pay up. The Shah Alam High Court on April 21 this year issued a bankruptcy notice on Mat Zain ordering him to pay the RM250,000 with interest and costs, bringing the total to RM288,824.92 .

How about a free shopping trip to Thailand on polling day?

PENANTI, May 27 – Some voters here may be spending polling day holidaying in either Langkawi, Haadyai or the Perlis shopping haven of Wang Kelian, near the Thai border.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Bilik Gerakan or operation centres report an organised effort to sign up voters for free bus trips to the various holiday destinations.

Suspicions are high that the bus trips are being organised by Umno to reduce voter turnout on polling day.

“They (Barisan Nasional) are afraid that their supporters will come out and vote even though they are not contesting. They would like to reduce the voter turn-out so that they can say voters do not approve of the by-election and are boycotting it,” says one PKR Penanti executive committee member.

He added that the trips are being advertised as school-holiday trips.

“If they can get 20 buses with each bus having 40 people, that is 800 people,” he said.

Penanti has a total of 15,421 voters of which 12,657 turned out in the last by-election in August last year.

Though victory for PKR is almost assured, the party still feels that that a high voter turnout is key to send a message that the party enjoys a high level of support.

Permatang Pauh Umno division chief Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid has denied being behind the bus trips.

“People have the right to go where they want,” he said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.

Division secretary Rohaizat Othman said that the bus trips are being organised at the branch level and he is not involved.

According to some reports, the buses are to leave at 7.30am on May 31, which is polling day.

There are also unconfirmed reports that RM500 pocket money has been promised to would-be holidaymakers upon their boarding the bus.

Jalil said that he has not given any directives to Umno voters for polling day; whether to stay home, go outstation or support the independent candidates.

“It is up to them,” he said.

Asked to comment on the allegations by independent candidate Aminah Abdullah that PKR tried to bribe her to withdraw from the contest, he said: “She was one of them before. She knows what is going on in the party.”

Does he think her allegations will affect voter sentiment?

“A little bit. But the impact will not be great as people think such things are normal during by-elections.” - MalaysianInsider

Zambry: We’ll let the law take its course first

IPOH: The Barisan Nasional-led Perak state government will let the judicial process take its course before deciding on whether to have an emergency state assembly sitting. - Zambry, The real Zombie!!!

Commenting on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement that an emergency sitting was an option to bring closure to the Perak dilemma, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said:

“Although there are provisions for it (but) as the judicial process is taking place now, lets allow that process to take its course.”

Speaking to reporters after attending a monthly gathering for civil servants at the State Secretariat building here Monday, Dr Zambry added that he would leave the matter open for the moment.

Asked whether he would use the option as suggested by the Prime Minister, Dr Zambry said:

“It is not a question of an option. It depends on what is decided by the court.”

On when the Assembly will convene, Dr Zambry said according to House rules, it would be another six months before the assembly reconvenes.

“As for the emergency sitting, as long as it is approved by the Ruler (we can do it),” he added.

On the planned hunger strike by Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday to call for the dissolution of the Assembly, Dr Zambry said it showed that Pakatan would not let the state be peaceful.

“They will do whatever to show Perak is always not in peace (but) I believe in the end, the rakyat (people) will know who is the root cause of the state’s chaotic situation,” he added.

Dr Zambry also slammed Pakatan for practising double standards.

“When the court ruled in their favour, they said it’s the fairness of the judiciary system but when the Court of Appeals ruled against them, they painted a bad picture of the system,” he added.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Zambry reminded civil servants to serve the government of the day to the rakyat’s benefit.

“They should not lose focus from serving the people,” he said.