AI: Hudud not ideal in Malaysia

PAS must explain how justice will be dispensed and how it will legally enforce hudud laws.

GEORGE TOWN: Forget about implementing hudud laws. Apply instead laws based on international human…

More ► More ▼

PAS must explain how justice will be dispensed and how it will legally enforce hudud laws.

GEORGE TOWN: Forget about implementing hudud laws. Apply instead laws based on international human rights standards instead, insisted an international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International yesterday.

AI executive director Nora Murat noted that hudud laws were not ideal, inapplicable and irrelevant in today’s rapidly globalising liberal world.

The Malaysian human rights proponent has no doubt that the implementation of hudud law would be a step backward, not forward, for the Malaysian civil society.

She suggested that it was indeed time to reinvent and reform the country laws into international class uniformed legislations accepted by all.

She insisted that one should drop the idea of hudud and focus on implementing laws based on universal concept of human rights values.

She called on Malaysians to move on with the times and to keep abreast with the fast developing globalisation concept emphasising on a more liberal, equal, fair and just civil society.

“The punishment like chopping off legs and hands are degrading and inhumane.

“We surely can’t practice that now,” Nora told FMT.

She was commenting on Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s statement last week that his government intended to implement hudud laws in the east-coast state.

Rhetorics slammed

Anwar, the de facto leader of PKR, which forms the backbone of Pakatan, said he believed in the principle that Islamic laws could be implemented in Kelantan.

“Looking at specific areas, there is clear guarantee of an administration of justice and it does not in any way infringe on the rights of non-Muslims,” said the opposition leader.

Anwar then added that it was his personal opinion.

Anwar and PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz came under fire from Pakatan Rakyat ally, DAP and many non-Muslims, especially in the cyber space, for their political stand.

Nora chided political parties which capitalised on religious rhetoric to gain political mileage.

“Religion shall never be politicised.

“It shall never be used as tool to fish votes,” cautioned Nora, a lawyer by profession.

Nora noted that hudud laws have failed to create a ‘just and fair society and system of justice’ in several countries including places such as Nigeria.

Due to the hudud fiasco, she said the Nigerian government was now facing a strong people’s movement determined to free the country from Islamic laws.

PAS must be transparent

However, she welcomed Nik Aziz and Anwar for openly supporting hudud laws now than later, after the general election.

“At least they are open and frank about their intentions.

“They did not hide their agenda to implement it after the election,” she said

She pointed out that PAS should have been more transparent on its Islamic agenda by disclosing publicly the whole system of hudud laws that it planned to implement.

She noted that implementation of hudud laws and its justice system differed among and within Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran.

As such, she said PAS should explain and reveal its plans for the legal enforcement of such laws.

It should also explain what the court structure would be and how the administration of justice would be like under the hudud laws.

“PAS should disclose on whether it would allow democratic space to question hudud laws and verdicts perceived unfair and unjust, like in civil laws,” Nora insisted.

▲

‘We did not conspire against Anwar’

In his affidavit, the prime minister admits meeting Saiful two days before the alleged sodomy incident for which Anwar Ibrahim is in trial.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak…

More ► More ▼

In his affidavit, the prime minister admits meeting Saiful two days before the alleged sodomy incident for which Anwar Ibrahim is in trial.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak admitted meeting Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan two days prior to the latter being allegedly sodomised by Anwar Ibrahim.

However, Najib said he had no knowledge of the June 26, 2008 (alleged sodomy) incident and therefore could not provide any information or relevant evidence on issues raised by the defence in the ongoing Sodomy II trial.

This was stated by Najib in his affidavit to support his application to set aside the subpeona compelling him to testify in the trial. His application would be heard on Thursday.

He also stated that prior to or after June 24, 2008, he never met the complainant, instructed anyone or conspirated with any individual to incriminate Anwar.

“I categorically deny any notion that my wife and I conspired in “mereka-rekakan ataupun mengada-adakan” anything which were very detrimental to the respondent (Anwar),” he said.

The affidavit, affirmed on Sept 23, also stated that Saiful only informed Najib of alleged sodomy incidents which took place prior to the June 26 incident. The prime miniser said he had advised Saiful to let the police investigate the matter.

Najib urged the court to set aside the subpeona on the ground that he strongly believes that the intention (to get him to testify) of the respondent (Anwar) was not in good faith.

According to the premier, it was just an attempt to abuse the process of the court.

Rosmah: I’m not a relevant witness

Meaawhile, Rosmah in her affidavit stated that she had never met or spoke with the complainant, and like her husband, denied involvement in any conspiracy against Anwar.

“I’m not a relevent witness in this trial, therefore the subpeona against me should be set aside,” read the affidavit.

On Sept 21, Najib and Rosmah filed the application to set aside the subpoenas. The couple is represented by four senior counsels Salehuddin Saidin, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, M Athimulan and Ghazi Ishak.

On Aug 8, trial judge Mohamad Zabidin granted Anwar’s application to interview witnesses offered by the prosecution, including Najib and Rosmah.

During Anwar’s first sodomy trial in 1998, then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was also subpoenaed and he succeded in setting it aside.

Mohamad Zabidin ordered Anwar to enter his defence on May 16 after ruling that Saiful was a truthful and credible witness.

Anwar, 65, claimed trial on Aug 7, 2008 to committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature at the Desa Damansara Condominium in Bukit Damansara between 3.10 pm and 4.30 pm on June 26, 2008.

The sodomy trial is set to continue on Oct 3.

▲

Israeli Doctors Save Gaza Girl’s Life, Raise Funds for Further Treatment

More ► More ▼

'Apes and Pigs'? Abir Abu Nakira, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl from Rafah with the israeli medical team who have saved her life - and raising fund for further treatment for her 

We’re sure that sometimes, ordinary Arabs must wish the whole of the Middle East was run by the Jews:
The life of a 17-year-old Palestinian girl from Rafah in Gaza was saved by Kaplan Medical Centre doctors after she fell from a malfunctioning ferris wheel near her home and was critically injured.
Three months after the accident, she is out of danger, but her doctors are trying to collect funds to enable her to undergo abroad a small-intestine transplant, which is unavailable here.
“I wish for peace between us and Israel,” Abir Abu-Nakira said. “Kaplan physicians saved me.”
Dr. Yoram Klein, director of the trauma and urgent surgery department in the Rehovot hospital, said Abir was brought to Kaplan after being held for four hours in a Palestinian Authority hospital, but the staff couldn’t save her. She was unconscious with severe abdominal injuries, requiring surgeons to perform several lifesaving operations.
In recent days, her condition stabilised, but she still requires a long period of hospitalisation. Her small intestine was severely damaged from the fall and is fed by a special tube attached to a vein in a technique unavailable in Palestinian Authority hospitals. A TV set was brought to her bedside to keep her occupied.
Klein said the hospital found an Arabic-speaking teacher who will work with her, and soon, teachers from Ramle will come to Kaplan to help Abir progress in her studies. Family members received permits to enter Israel from Gaza, with help from the hospital.

“Dr. Klein is my angel. He is much more than a doctor; he supports and strengthens me Abir Abu-Nakira

This is not a one-off, either. Thousands of ‘Palestinians’ are treated in Israel, usually without cost or fanfare. Their families are regularly allowed into Israel to accompany or visit them.
As Abu Mazen and the PA tries to shoplift statehood from the gullible UN, without the hard work of actually negotiating for peace – and while they the thugs of Hamas squander the billions they get in aid from the impressonable dhimmis that ‘lead’ the West on terrorism and hate propaganda aimed at the Jewish ‘apes and pigs’, Israel is quietly showing ordinary Gazans and those from Judea and Samaria the humanity, hard work, education and accomplishment required to do in order to actually become a real state – not a failed Islamic terrorist kleptocracy.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Mafia comprised of the PA and Hamas use Western money (your money) to pay monthly salaries to those that kill and maim Israelis – and fete these criminals and terrorists as heroes on children’s TV shows.
They call for nothing less than the annihilation of the Jewish State in their constitutions.
Against daily this background of indoctrination, racist hatred and incitement – we feel sure that ordinary people in Gaza such as Abir Abu-Nakira and her grateful family surely cannot help but compare and contrast.
Full story at the Jerusalem Post

▲

Palsu bukti:Gani dicabar saman pihak kaitkan beliau

Lawyer for Sarbaini's kin: Decision hard to believe

Najib: ‘Sin’ money for schools

Some RM100 million from gambling profit will go into the coffers of vernacular and mission schools.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced today that some RM100 million of…

More ► More ▼

Some RM100 million from gambling profit will go into the coffers of vernacular and mission schools.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced today that some RM100 million of gambling profit will be channelled to vernacular and mission schools.

Amid speculation that national polls would be held in the next six months, the announcement is likely to be interpreted as Najib’s effort to regain non-Malay support.

Vernacular schools often complained about lack of funding and support from Putrajaya. The Najib administration knows that education funding is one of the major issues that could draw support particularly from the Chinese electorate.

Najib said the funds would be distributed in close consultation with the government and Barisan Nasional component parties to ensure fair distribution.

The announcement was made at the launching of the “Community Chest” fund run by a consortium of tycoons that paid over RM2 billion for billionaire T Ananda Krishnan’s Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd (PMP) in July. It would be spearheaded by Lim Kok Tay of gambling giant Genting Bhd.

Others on the board of trustees are Genting deputy chairman Hanif Omar, Quek Leng Chan of the Hong Leong group, Lion Group boss William Cheng and Westport’s G Gnanalingam.

As much as RM26 million have been pumped into 61 vernacular schools as of today while Najib said a minimum of RM100 million would be channelled annually beginning next year.

The fund was modelled after Hong Kong’s Community Chest, a non-profit organisation that bankrolled community projects.

The initiative came amid the Chinese’s continuous snub of national schools in favour of Chinese-language primary schools. They believe the schools provide better quality education despite the lack of support from the government.

The Singapore Straits Times reported last month that financial executives involved in the deal believe it could improve BN’s standing among the Chinese and Indian electorate.

Flagging non-Malay support contributed to the ruling coalition’s dismal performance in the landmark 2008 general election where BN lost its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and five states.

Meanhwile, Najib said Putrajaya would work on creating a “creative solution” to complement the government’s efforts to ensure access to quality education for all.

“We cannot meet all the needs of the community but it is important that new models are initiated to achieve government targets,” he said at the Confucian Chinese School here.

▲

Nik Aziz: DAP ibarat budak-budak kecil takutkan hantu

Hudud untuk orang Islam dan apa hubungan dia (DAP) dengan orang Islam, kata Menteri Besar Kelantan.

KOTA BARU: Menteri Besar Kelantan Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat berkata hukum hudud…

More ► More ▼

Hudud untuk orang Islam dan apa hubungan dia (DAP) dengan orang Islam, kata Menteri Besar Kelantan.

KOTA BARU: Menteri Besar Kelantan Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat berkata hukum hudud yang mahu dilaksanakan kerajaan Kelantan sama sekali tidak kena mengena dengan masyarakat bukan Islam terutama DAP yang juga tiada sebab membantah undang-undang Islam itu dilaksanakan.

Beliau menyifatkan DAP seperti “budak-budak kecil takutkan hantu”, sedangkan hukum hudud sebenarnya lebih adil dan tidak membabitkan golongan bukan Islam.

“DAP nak keluar (gabungan pembangkang) pasal apa? Hudud untuk orang Islam dan apa hubungan dia (DAP) dengan orang Islam,” katanya kepada pemberita di kediaman Menteri Besar di sini, hari ini.

Semalam, Nik Aziz berkata hukum hudud itu akan dilaksanakan di Mahkamah Syariah di Kelantan walaupun mendapat tentangan daripada DAP.

Baru-baru ini, pemimpin-pemimpin kanan DAP dilaporkan akan meletakkan jawatan beramai-ramai sekiranya terdapat usaha meletakkan matlamat menjadikan negara Islam atau melaksanakan hukum hudud di negara ini.

Kenyataan Mursyidul Am PAS itu bertentangan dengan saranan Setiausaha Agung PAS Datuk Mustafa Ali yang meminta semua pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat tidak membuat sebarang kenyataan mengenai hukum hudud sehingga mesyuarat bulanan mereka, Rabu ini.

Ia adalah persetujuan yang dicapai antara beliau dengan setiausaha agung PKR, Saifudin Nasution Ismail, dan Ketua Pemuda DAP, Anthony Loke, kata Mustafa  kepada pemberita di ibupejabat PAS di Kuala Lumpur.

Mustafa berkata, mesyuarat pada hari tersebut yang sepatutnya membincangkan mengenai Bajet 2012 tetapi akan meletakkan isu sensitif hukum hudud sebagai keutamaan dan satu pendirian bersama akan dibuat.

- Bernama

▲

MIC: DAP threat a ‘sandiwara’

MIC secretary-general S Murugesan urges DAP to resolve the issue once and for all or do the honourable thing.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP leaders’ threat to resign en masse pertaining to…

More ► More ▼

MIC secretary-general S Murugesan urges DAP to resolve the issue once and for all or do the honourable thing.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP leaders’ threat to resign en masse pertaining to the hudud row is nothing more than a charade, according to MIC secretary-general S Murugesan.

“It’s just a ‘sandiwara’, they will not do it,” he said in a statement today.

Going by the modus operandi of Pakatan Rakyat, Murugesan said, the component parties would offer a joint statement claiming that the matter had been resolved without going into the details.

“Both PAS and DAP are playing to their support bases by chest-beating and trying to shore-up their diminishing support,” he added.

Murugesan was responding to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who said that the party’s top leader would resign from the Pakatan council if hudud law or the formation of an Islamic state were included in the Pakatan Rakyat’s Buku Jingga common policy framework.

“If there is any mention that we want to implement hudud law in our common policy framework and the Buku Jingga, the party’s entire central committee will resign,” Lim had said.

DAP had always been a strong opponent of the Islamic state agenda, arguing that the Federal Constitution specified Malaysia as a secular state whereas PAS leaders pointed out that the establishment of an Islamic state was the core of the party’s struggle.

Meanwhile, Murugesan challenged the Chinese-dominated DAP to put an end to this issue or quit the opposition coalition.

“DAP must resolve this once and for all. Failing which they must do the honourable thing and leave Pakatan,” he added.

Murugesan said that DAP and PAS’ stand on this issue were at complete odds and go the root of their respective causes.

“If they can’t resolve this, then it is pointless for them to discuss anything else,” he added.

▲

Bila rogol dikatakan halal

“SEKUMPULAN WANITA BERSKIRT MINI BERHIMPUN DI JAKARTA”,
“PAKAI SKIRT BANTAH GABENOR”

Bila baca tajuk berita sedemikian, imej apa yang terus terbayang di fikiran pembaca? Mungkinkah: “Whoo, perempuan seksi!” Atau:…

More ► More ▼

“SEKUMPULAN WANITA BERSKIRT MINI BERHIMPUN DI JAKARTA”,
“PAKAI SKIRT BANTAH GABENOR”

Bila baca tajuk berita sedemikian, imej apa yang terus terbayang di fikiran pembaca? Mungkinkah: “Whoo, perempuan seksi!” Atau: “Teruk betul wanita yang berdemo itu kerana pakai mini skirt.” Mungkin: “Inilah bila wanita kebaratan sangat…!”
Tetapi, berapa ramai agaknya yang merasa mahu tahu isu apakah yang membuatkan wanita-wanita itu berdemonstrasi?
Berita mengenai wanita berdemonstrasi di Jakarta baru-baru ini tersiar di akhbar-akhbar perdana di Malaysia. Mereka memprotes kenyataan gabenor Jakarta yang menyalahkan cara perempuan berpakaian sebagai punca mereka dirogol.
Mangsa yang diperkosa adalah seorang mahasiswi yang masih berpakaian seragam dalam perjalanan pulang dari kampus. Gabenor terus menuduh punca wanita diperkosa di dalam bas pengangkutan awam adalah kerana wanita memakai skirt pendek. Apakah kenyataan itu benar dan patut?
Justeru, para wanita berdemo dengan memakai pelbagai jenis pakaian untuk menunjukkan bahawa pakaian bukanlah menjadi penyebab wanita diperkosa.

Demonstrasi di Jakarta (photo courtesy of Kiki Febriyanti)

Masyarakat memangsakan mangsa
Antara faktor pemerkosaan adalah kerana penjenayah merasa mempunyai kuasa untuk melakukan kekerasan ke atas orang yang lebih lemah dari dirinya.
Hakikatnya, bayi, kanak-kanak kecil, nenek-nenek dan wanita yang bertudung labuh pun ada yang dirogol.
Malaysia masih ingat kes Nurul Huda Abd Ghani, murid Tahun 4 yang dirogol oleh tiga lelaki di pondok pengawal TNB di Johor Bharu. Juga kes Noor Suzaily Mokhtar, jurutera komputer yang dirogol dan dibunuh dengan kejam oleh pemandu bas.  Noor Suzaily tidak memakai skirt pendek semasa beliau menaiki bas tersebut.  Beliau bertudung kepala.
Apa yang sering berlaku, reaksi spontan ramai orang adalah untuk terus menyalahkan si mangsa. “Mesti kerana dia berpakaian yang menjolok mata”, atau “Gaya dia membuatkan lelaki tergoda”.
Jangan terperanjat jika reaksi sebegini turut datang dari orang-orang yang berpendidikan tinggi, termasuk yang dikatakan tinggi ilmu agamanya.
Bila rogol dianggap halal dalam Islam
Seorang pemimpin parti politik bergelar ulama berkata wanita yang tidak menutup aurat memang layak dirogol. Ceramah beliau tersiar di YouTube, ditonton lebih dari satu juta kali.
Baru-baru ini juga seorang pemimpin tertinggi di Acheh Barat juga mengeluarkan kenyataan yang serupa, iaitu wanita yang tidak berpakaian menurut Shariah layak diperkosa.

Fauzi Bowo Canisius, gabenor Jakarta (Wiki commons)

Mesej apakah yang diberi oleh tokoh-tokoh Islam ini? Ajaran Islam apakah yang disampaikan? Apakah pelaksanaan negara Islam mereka lebih kepada untuk menghukum? Adakah menurut kefahaman mereka, merogol wanita yang tidak menutup aurat itu hukumnya halal?
Dalil apa yang mereka pakai? Apakah ada ayat al-Qur’an yang mengatakan hukum perempuan tidak berpakaian sopan adalah dirogol? Apakah Rasulullah pernah mengeluarkan hadith yang sekejam itu?
Bercakap atas nama agama
Ini yang menjadi ironisnya.  Orang Islam marah benar bila orang Barat atau bukan Islam menuduh agama Islam sebagai mengamalkan diskriminasi, keras dan tidak berperikemanusiaan.  Akan tetapi, orang Islam seperti mereka jugalah yang mengatakan perempuan memang layak diperkosa jika pakaiannya tidak sopan.
Mereka bercakap atas nama agama.  Walaupun mereka mempunyai ilmu tentang Islam, namun mereka tetap merupakan manusia yang pemahamannya tentang agama dan kemanusiaan masih terbatas mengikut kadar pemahaman, tafsiran dan pengalaman mereka sendiri. Lantas, ternodalah nama Islam akibat pemikiran sempit dan sikap sadis mereka.
Teramat jarang sekali saya dengar tokoh agama di Malaysia yang kritikal tentang punca masalah keganasan seksual dan menawarkan pemikiran yang membina dalam usaha membanteras jenayah rogol. Usaha penyelesaian memerlukan pemikiran yang berupaya mengharmonikan objektif Shariah dengan konteks masyarakat moden.
Di Indonesia, saya berkesempatan bertemu beberapa tokoh Islam yang menawarkan cara pandang baru untuk masyarakat Islam di Malaysia.
Konsep dan objektif mahram
Ibu Nyai Masriyah Amva adalah seorang ulama wanita yang memimpin sebuah madrasah di Cirebon, Indonesia. Di dalam sebuah buku karangannya, beliau menceritakan pengalaman semasa di tanah suci Mekah dan Madinah.
Bagi wanita yang berasal dari negara yang secara amnya menyediakan ruang kebebasan untuk wanita bergerak ke mana saja, beliau hairan bagaimana wanita seperti beliau yang berada di kota-kota suci Islam malah lebih terdedah pada gangguan lelaki. Betapa kota yang menempatkan rumah Allah sangat tidak ramah pada perempuan.

Ibu Nyai Masriyah Amva (Sumber: kebonjambu.org)

Beliau justeru sedar bahawa perempuan adalah korban dari budaya dan undang-undang yang membunuh kekuatan-kekuatan wanita, yang membuatkan wanita terpaksa bergantung pada lelaki untuk jaminan keselamatan dirinya. Beliau lalu menyeru kerajaan Arab Saudi untuk menyediakan suasana yang aman dan kondusif agar wanita dapat bergerak bebas dan beribadah pada Tuhannya tanpa perlu bimbang dari gangguan lelaki.
Kiyai Husein Muhamad, seorang ulama tradisional di Indonesia yang berkelulusan dari universiti Al-Azhar, Mesir, memahami keadaan sukar yang dialami para wanita termasuk Ibu Nyai Masriyah.
Beliau lalu menjelaskan bahawa pada zaman Nabi yang masyarakatnya mengamalkan hidup nomad serta keadaan tanah Arab yang berpadang pasir, dengan kedudukan bandarnya yang berpuluh-puluh atau beratus-ratus batu jauhnya, memang boleh difahami mengapa wanita perlu ditemani mahram, yang biasanya adalah orang lelaki. Tujuannya agar keselamatan wanita terjaga dari anasir buruk seperti dirompak, diculik, diperkosa atau dibunuh.
Akan tetapi, di dalam sistem negara moden seperti Malaysia dan Indonesia, beliau berpendapat bahawa negaralah yang seharusnya berperanan sebagai mahram dalam memastikan keselamatan semua rakyatnya terjamin.
Ia boleh dilaksanakan dengan menyediakan sistem yang baik dan efisien. Ini termasuklah menyediakan lampu-lampu bagi memastikan jalan terang, sistem pengangkutan yang cekap yang mana kesemua kakitangan dan pemandu bas hendaklah berdaftar dan tiada rekod jenayah.
Negara yang berperanan sebagai mahram juga termasuk pasukan polis yang cekap dan mesra rakyat, dan sistem perundangan yang cekap dan tegas dalam menghukum pelaku jenayah. Penting juga dari segi pendidikan ialah memberi ilmu mempertahankan diri, menerapkan dalam sistem pendidikan agar manusia saling menghormati antara satu sama lain walaupun mereka berbeza dari pelbagai segi, termasuklah  agar lelaki menghormati orang perempuan, dan sebagainya.
Menggunakan akal dalam agama
Ramai ulama mendakwa dalam Islam tidak boleh menggunakan akal fikiran, harus berdasarkan keimanan.  Pada saya, kenyataan sedemikian bertentangan dengan wahyu Allah yang pertama, iaitu “Bacalah”. Tentu saja membaca memerlukan akal fikiran yang tajam bagi memproses informasi yang dibaca dengan menghubungkannya dengan alam dan hidup kita.
Dalam hal ini misalnya, apakah beriman atau meyakini itu adalah dengan meyakini apa yang dikatakan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin Islam yang mengatakan perempuan boleh dirogol? Bukankah pandangan mereka juga hasil dari menggunakan akal fikiran mereka?
Jika kita benar-benar meyakini Islam adalah agama yang baik, adil, penyayang dan mencintai keamanan, maka umat Islam harus mengelak dari mengambil sikap menyalahkan, tetapi menggunakan akal fikiran dalam mencari jalan penyelesaian terbaik terhadap masalah yang dihadapi oleh masyarakat kita di zaman ini.

▲

Mat Zain: Charge Gani Patail, not change A-G’s powers

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — Taking away the Attorney-General's power to prosecute will not stop abuses of power, a former senior police officer said today.

Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief…

More ► More ▼

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — Taking away the Attorney-General's power to prosecute will not stop abuses of power, a former senior police officer said today.

Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim said that there was nothing wrong with the functions of the A-G as defined by the Federal Constitution, and charged that it was Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (picture) who had abused his powers as the current A-G “several times over.”

“We should not blame the Constitution. It’s the honesty of the person holding the post that matters.

“Even if we were to separate the functions of the A-G and the PP, there are no guarantees that either one or both of them will not abuse their powers,” Mat Zain wrote in an open letter to The Malaysian Insider. 

Mat Zain was referring to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s recent remarks supporting calls to separate the functions of the A-G.

In Malaysia, the A-G is the principal legal adviser to the government and also serves as the country’s highest-ranking public prosecutor.

The former policeman continued his attacks against Abdul Gani, accusing him of fabricating evidence in an investigation back in 1998.

It is believed he was referring to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s controversial “black eye” incident.

The deputy prime minister-turned-opposition leader is back in the dock on a similar charge of sodomising a former male aide.

Mat Zain reiterated that the criminal allegations against Abdul Gani were made publicly in two previous parliamentary sessions — the first in March 2009 and the other just last December.

Mat Zain said that an independent three-man panel had also investigated the allegations against the A-G and that one of the panellists had concluded the A-G was involved in evidence tampering, which was stated in the form of three expert reports.

“The Cabinet has to explain to the public how they could clear Gani Patail from any wrongdoing when the evidence presented to them is crystal clear. The A-G must be made to account for the three expert reports in question.

“If it is the A-G himself who has committed a crime, so be it. He has to face the music like everybody else,” the former top cop added.

▲

Sarbani inquest rules its “misadventure”

The inquest into senior Customs officer Sarbani’s death at the MACC office has ruled that it was a case of misadventure.
Ho-hum. Right. Sure.
Did you expect anything else after the Beng Hock findings?
We still don’t know how the cctv recordings were deleted.