(Malaysiakini) Veteran politician Lim Kit Siang has taken up cudgels on behalf of ex-RMAF sergeant N Tharmendran, who has opted to return to the Sungai Buloh prison pending trial for alleged involvement in the theft of two jet-fighter engines.
Tharmendran (right) retracted his bail yesterday, after the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court refused his application for a protection order against alleged 'abductors' from the air force.
In a statement today, Lim asked: “Can Najib and his cabinet give an iron-clad guarantee that Tharmendran ... would be absolutely safe on bail while awaiting trial...?
“It is a terrible indictment on the system of governance in Malaysia that a person should feel safer in prison custody than to be out as a free man, for fear of being abducted and tortured again by military intelligence officers.”
Tharmendran, who fears for his safety while out on bail, had lodged a police report yesterday morning claiming that four air force personnel had gone to his parents' house in Seremban last week, to attempt to pick him up.
Lim, who is Ipoh Timor MP, said the issue of the former airman's safety is the ultimate sign that Malaysia is headed towards becoming a failed state.
He said Tharmendran's case joins a lengthening list of issues that have cast doubt on the premier's seriousness, ability and political will to arrest “institutional degradation” and restore national and international confidence, which were conditional to Malaysia becoming a developed, inclusive and sustainable high-income nation by 2020.
Other examples which put the premiere's leadership into question, Lim said, include Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial, the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, the RM500 million 'commission' for two Scorpene submarines, private investigator P Balasubramaniam and his two statutory declarations, persecution of Raja Petra Kamarudin and the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock.
Tharmendran has alleged that he was tortured by military intelligence officers while detained for three weeks during an internal probe, in order to coerce his confession.
His father N Nagarajah had earlier lodged a police report on the alleged abuse of his son.
In a statement today, Lim asked: “Can Najib and his cabinet give an iron-clad guarantee that Tharmendran ... would be absolutely safe on bail while awaiting trial...?
“It is a terrible indictment on the system of governance in Malaysia that a person should feel safer in prison custody than to be out as a free man, for fear of being abducted and tortured again by military intelligence officers.”
Tharmendran, who fears for his safety while out on bail, had lodged a police report yesterday morning claiming that four air force personnel had gone to his parents' house in Seremban last week, to attempt to pick him up.
He said Tharmendran's case joins a lengthening list of issues that have cast doubt on the premier's seriousness, ability and political will to arrest “institutional degradation” and restore national and international confidence, which were conditional to Malaysia becoming a developed, inclusive and sustainable high-income nation by 2020.
Other examples which put the premiere's leadership into question, Lim said, include Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial, the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, the RM500 million 'commission' for two Scorpene submarines, private investigator P Balasubramaniam and his two statutory declarations, persecution of Raja Petra Kamarudin and the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock.
Tharmendran has alleged that he was tortured by military intelligence officers while detained for three weeks during an internal probe, in order to coerce his confession.
His father N Nagarajah had earlier lodged a police report on the alleged abuse of his son.
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