Is Absence Of Reports An Excuse For Police Inaction On Politicians

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Former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy has questioned whether the police is using the “absence of reports” as a mere excuse for the force not to act against certain politicians.
Ramasamy said this in response to Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain’s latest statement that no reports have been lodged against Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh over his Facebook post that showed him wielding a traditional Japanese sword.
Ramasamy, in a statement today, stressed that the police cannot say that no investigation will be carried out if no reports are lodged.
“Whether this was a genuine response by Razarudin or a mere excuse not to act against the Umno Youth politician (Akmal) remains to be seen.
“The question is - why the need for a police report before police can act against Akmal, not only for uploading the image of him holding the long sword, but in the prevailing context of ethnic and religious tensions.
“If Razarudin cares to dig up past police investigations, there have been many such investigations that were not prompted by police reports,” he said.
Umno Youth chief Muhamad Akmal SalehAkmal’s post, dated March 14, one day after the discovery of socks bearing the word “Allah” being sold at a KK Mart outlet, was captioned: “No matter what, we will not waver from our stance. Better to die standing than live kneeling.”
At that time, the Merlimau state assemblyperson called for the implementation of a single-stream education system, sparking heated debates over vernacular schools.
Akmal’s first comment on the KK Mart issue came a day after on March 15, when he expressed dissatisfaction with the convenience store chain’s apology.
It was in this same post he also called for a boycott against KK Mart.
Ramasamy claimed that there would not be firebomb attacks in three states – Perak, Pahang and Sarawak – if Akmal did not act “belligerently” in his calls for the boycott of the convenience store chain.
“The police cannot be naive not to see the links. While the police are super-efficient in charging the owner and supplier of KK Mart and those who used Facebook postings to make unsavoury comments about the socks incident, they are slow in going after the vigilantes who relied on mob justice and those responsible for the firebomb incidents.
“The police can give importance to reports before investigations commence. It might be a standard operating procedure.
“Surely, under emergency situations, is there a need for reports before the police can act?”
Therefore, he urged the police to get their act together and “not behave as politicians in the country”.
He asserted that the police must be seen to function in an impartial manner, not on the basis of political expediency or correctness.
He then claimed that Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail might not be giving the right advice to the police.
“The minute the police get entangled in the politics of the government, it would be a sad day for the professionalism of the men in blue.”
‘Is there such a rule’
On a related matter, former minister Zaid Ibrahim also questioned Razarudin on the matter, asking whether if there was such a rule in place.
“Is there such a law? If the country is burning and no one lodges a report, then the police can’t do anything?” he asked.
Zaid then reminisced about the time when he was charged with insulting the then-premier in 2014, Najib Abdul Razak.
“No public member lodged a report. So Bukit Aman got a policeman to lodge the first information report. It’s quite simple.
“I suspect (in the current case) there was no investigation because the relevant subject matter or person involved was a high-ranking Umno leader. I was a nobody,” he added. - Mkini

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