Dark clouds over the IGP

By Kim Quek

Will Agong step in?

How should one read Prime Minister Najib Razak’s decision to renew Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan’s service contract despite his horrible records – exploding crime rates, brutal suppression of civil liberties and swirling talks of his alleged links with the underworld?

Some would say that the IGP is retained because, as a ruthless suppressor of human rights, he is exactly the kind of police head needed to prop up the wobbling UMNO led regime that is fast losing popular support. As Musa’s credentials for this role were well demonstrated in the infamous power grab in Perak. Brushing the Constitution and law aside, police brute force was repeatedly employed to physically bar and rough up Pakatan assemblymen from exercising their constitutional rights to regain their legitimacy to rule from the illegitimately established BN state government.

Others would say that Najib is in no position to get rid of Musa as the latter has the upper hand, being holder of the darkest secrets pertaining to major scandals that have been heavily weighing down on Najib, such as the Altantuya murder and the Scorpene submarine purchase.

Some would even suggest that Musa’s hitherto pivotal role in the on-going dubious Anwar sodomy trial II makes him indispensable to the continuing potency of this case as a potential lethal weapon against the seemingly unstoppable advances of Pakatan Rakyat.

For those who have been paying attention to the local political scene, it is not difficult to see that all the above three views are valid. In other words, it is the combination of expediency for political survival and the personal vulnerability of the Prime Minister that has contributed to another extension to the already extended term of two year for the hugely unpopular police head.

Musa’s extension of service also signifies that there will be no light at the end of the tunnel of promised reforms as hyped in Najib’s 1Malaysia euphoria. Between an inclusive democratic Malaysia and a race-supremacist authoritarian Malaysia, the Najib led UMNO has obviously chosen the latter.

FRIGHTENING DETERIORATION OF PUBLIC SECURITY

Politics aside, what concerns the men-in-the-street is the frightening deterioration of security and law and order in the country. A recent opinion poll conducted in the Home Ministry website reveals that 97% of respondents expressed worry over the state of public safety, 94% were of the opinion that the authorities had not done their best and a shocking two third said they or their immediate family members had been victims of crimes. These alarming polling results are in tandem with the fact that crimes have escalated exponentially during Musa’s tenure as the IGP.

Why has crime rate continued to spiral uncontrollably despite the billions of ringgit poured into the police to upgrade facilities and expand manpower following the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to upgrade the police force in 2005? Why has rampant corruption and persistent abuse of power and violation of human rights continue to bug our police force with increasing tenacity? Why have the police continued to resist the implementation of the crown jewel of the Royal Commission’s 125 recommendations – the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission, which by consensus, would have been the most potent medicine to whip our decadent police force into shape?

In all these failures, we see the shadow of IGP Musa Hassan. It is therefore with the utmost indignation that we must deplore the Najib leadership for refusing to react to the alarm bells sounded in the Malaysia Today website in the past week, where explicit details of Musa Hassan’s alleged links to the underworld were exposed.

EXPLOSIVE REVELATIONS

In a series of postings, Malaysia Today’s Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) displayed photocopies of statutory declarations and correspondence among key players to substantiate the allegations of Musa’s involvement. These allegations included: the IGP allowing an underworld kingpin to manipulate postings of officers while siding another to secure his release.

In a posting on Aug 28, RPK revealed a statutory declaration made by a former aide de camp (ADC) of Inspector General Musa Hassan, where the ADC accused the IGP of misconduct that “undermined the integrity and credibility of the PDRM, constituting a betrayal of his oath of office”. Certain names and details were blacked out in the documents for “obvious reasons”, but RPK promised that the ‘un-blacked’ out version would be revealed if its authenticity was challenged by the government or when Musa’s service was extended so as to embarrass the government.

Specifically, the ADC alleged that

• As ADC, he compiled and coordinated posting orders as based on a draft and proposal made by BK Tan. A list of the postings as implemented was attached to the Affidavit.
• Some transfers were made as “entrapment’, others with short notices were made as punishment to convey the impression of eradicating corruption and abuses, though “it was furthest from the truth”.
• He verified that the statutory declarations of certain police officers (name given) alleging manipulation of “promotions, ranks and postings in the hierarchy of PDRM” by BK Tan were true. (These statutory declarations appeared earlier in Malaysia Today).
• Six police officers who exposed Musa’s alleged underworld links were charged for various offenses.
• A former CID Director (name given) informed him that it was Musa who gave the order to set up a covert blog to make allegation of corruption against former Deputy Minister of Home Security Johari Baharom. (In 2007. Johari, a known adversary to Musa, was accused in an anonymous blog of accepting RM 5.5 million bribe to free three underworld bigwigs, but Johari was subsequently cleared of this allegation)

In another posting on the same day, Aug 28, RPK revealed a letter dated 29 Aug 2007 from Johari Baharom to his former boss, Abdullah Badawi who was then Prime Minister cum Home Security, where Musa’s link with Goh Cheng Poh was unveiled. Goh Cheng Poh was nabbed in an anti-Ah Long operation and banished to restricted residence (RR) in Jeli, Kelantan, under the direction of a task force headed by Johari. Goh then made a habeas corpus application to the court on 14 Aug 2007 to set aside the RR order on ground of male fide detention. In Johari’s letter to Abdullah, he described details of how Musa, in conjunction with the attorney general (AG), took unprecedented legal steps to help Goh to win his case. (Following this suit, AG ordered Goh’s release.)

WILL AGONG STEP IN?

In any democracy, these explosive exposures would have rocked the government. Even in the pseudo democracy of Malaysia, surely these allegations are serious enough to merit a proper investigation, particularly when these occurred on the eve of the re-appointment of such a controversial figure who commands no public confidence.

But our government has remained silent. And what has Musa got to say to these allegations when contacted? He refused to comment, according to Malaysiakini which reported these revelations on Aug 29.

However, all is not lost as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is empowered under Article 140 (5) of the Constitution to refer the Police Force Commission’s recommendation back to the Commission for another round of consideration. Until the Agong signs on the letter of appointment which should take effect on Sept 13, the Agong can still ask the Commission to deliberate further, pending a proper investigation to clear up the dark clouds hanging over the IGP.

The issue of the caliber and integrity of the next IGP is of vital importance at this critical junction of our history in view of the chaotic state of the rule of law the nation has descended into. And we trust that the Agong will give this matter his due consideration.