Non Malay Should Not Be Ag Remark Reflects Malay Sentiment Nazri

---

BN secretary-general Nazri Abdul Aziz said his speech, where he said a non-Muslim should not be an attorney-general, was merely a reflection of grassroots sentiment
"What I said about the attorney-general (is) I am stating facts on the ground - that (there is) fear (among) the Malays that probably, if the AG is not a bumi or Malay, then there is a fear of bias
"And this happened. The case of Adib is a fact," he told a press conference at Umno's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today
Nazri was referring to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim after sustaining injuries during a riot in November
The former minister said four people were charged for hurting Adib but the charges were then dropped after the firefighter succumbed to his injuries
"This has caused some anxieties among the Malay grassroots. So if I say something which is actually happening on the ground, it cannot be seditious
"(I am) merely stating a fact. I did not instigate the people," he said
However, Nazri's claim was not factual. The four individuals referred by Nazri were never charged
Instead, police were probing the four for assaulting Adib, only to reclassify investigations as a murder probe after he passed away.  The cause of Adib's death is currently being investigated by a Coroner's Court
Nazri's speech was made in Beranang on Saturday
Apart from the attorney-general, Nazri said the position chief justice and finance minister should not be non-Malay because they could not take their oath of office by swearing on the Quran. "An individual swearing before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong must use the Quran because the king is a Muslim. If one does not use the Quran, then he or she is not bound to the oath taken
"I can just hold a dictionary and I swear anything because I know this is just a normal book," he said
To emphasise his allegation, Nazri claimed that former Argentine president Carlos Menem, whose parents are from Syria, was forced to convert to Catholicism in order to take his oath of office in 1989. - Mkini

---