Flag Blunder Akmal Postpones Class Latheefa Decries Persecution

---

 


Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh is postponing his plans to "educate" a hardware store owner on the proper way to display the Jalur Gemilang.
This comes after a seemingly erroneous reading on his part of a police statement saying charges will be recommended against the businessperson.
Lawyer Latheefa Koya was not as welcoming of the police’s statement, claiming their move to recommend charges showed the shop owner was being persecuted.
Earlier, Penang police chief Alwi Zainal Abidin said the business proprietor had been arrested, and that police will be submitting their investigation paper to prosecutors tomorrow with recommendations for charges to be filed.
Akmal (above) interpreted this statement as charges will be filed in court tomorrow.
"As the police have made an arrest, and the man who flew the Malaysian flag upside down will be charged tomorrow, we will give a wide berth to the prosecution to carry out the legal process, thus, the 'class' to teach the man how to put up a flag will be postponed.
"We urge the prosecution, and plead with the court, that this individual be charged and punished severely to serve as a lesson to all in the future," he said on Facebook.
The Merlimau assemblyperson warned that if the punishment is too light, it will open room for others to disrespect the country's sovereignty.
Akmal also warned that anyone else who puts up the Jalur Gemilang upside down will have to sit in his "class".
It is unclear if the rally that Umno Youth planned to coincide with Akmal's “lecture” has also been postponed.
Whether or not charges will be filed in the case will be up to public prosecutors.
‘Tainted with unfairness’
However, Latheefa said that the probe, arrest, and planned charges are all tainted with unfairness and the store owner's right to a fair trial has been compromised from the outset.
"When ministers and Madani politicians come out publicly to comment on an ongoing police probe and demand action, can the person being investigated get fair treatment? The process is tainted from the beginning," the former MACC chief said.
Latheefa also called the investigation a waste of police resources.
"There are many serious cases out there that police ought to be dealing with swiftly.
"In some serious cases like the assault upon (e-hailing driver) Ong Ing Keong by a police bodyguard, the case dragged on for months without a charge.
“The disparity and unequal treatment are stark and unacceptable," the lawyer added.
Lawyer Latheefa KoyaThe latest flag blunder went viral on social media yesterday after a 20-second video showed the shop owner carrying the flag upside down on a pole, while another man records him.
Chinese-language daily Kwong Wah reported yesterday that the store owner, Feng Jin Zhen, explained that he was measuring the length of an iron pole while hanging the national flag and did not notice that the flag was upside down.
Upon realising it was being flown upside down, Feng said he immediately corrected it.
He also said he was unaware the entire process had been filmed and uploaded to Facebook, and regretted that the video did not capture the part when the flag position was corrected. - Mkini

---