Media
Statement by Tony Pua, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Member of
Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 22 July 2013
Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor is the last person
the Government should take advice on the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for he is
the exemplification of why the EO must not be reinstated
 |
| Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor |
Disgraced
former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor has argued
over the weekend in Mingguan Malaysia that the new law to replace the Emergency
Ordinance (EO) must permit “preventive detention”.
He
claimed the police have admitted that gangsterism is on the rise and even gone
“out of control”. According to the
former IGP, the police turned into mere observers, becoming completely helpless
in crime prevention since the repeal of the EO.
“They
see the situation as having gone out of control. Preventive arrests cannot be
made because the laws no longer permit it. Gangsterism is getting worse but
they cannot keep it contained,” he said.
Tan Sri Rahim painted a bleak picture of the Royal Malaysian Police
today, “it’s like they have broken wings. Things are no longer like they were
before. Intelligence gathered can only be documented”.
Instead
of justifying the EO, the above admission by the former IGP is the most damning
piece of testimony of the competence and professionalism of the Royal Malaysian
Police has declined to deplorable standards.
Tan Sri Rahim argued that "the information gathering and tracking
is done by the police. They know more deeply about the crime world”. However, the “intelligence gathered can only
be documented” with no further action possible. As a result, these criminals “are
free to extort businessmen and rob businesses. Gang fights also keep happening
around Klang Valley and Malacca where they kill each other.”
That however,
can only mean that either the “intelligence” isn’t very intelligent, or there
isn’t anyone intelligent to exercise the “intelligence” to fight crime.
Hence
the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was in this case, absolutely spot on
when he decreed that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence”
upon repealing the EO. Instead of just
catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib demanded
the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.
The
former IGP also dismissed the views of the Attorney General (AG) claiming he “does
not know fully about the twist and turns and modus operandi of criminals
especially those involved in gangsterism”.
Perhaps
Malaysians really do not understand the twist and turns of those involved in
gangsterism, it was Tan Sri Rahim Noor himself who had beaten former Deputy
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to pulp while the latter was in
custody. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Police had for the longest
period denied any abuse on their part, and even suggested that Datuk Seri Anwar
had given himself the infamous black eye.
Instead
of taking his advice on the EO, Tan Sri Rahim Noor’s action instead exemplifies
the need to repeal the EO as the police, and even the IGP lacks the competence
and cannot be trusted to decide who is or is not guilty before a person is
charged in Court. Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim for example, has been acquited of all charges against him.
We ask
that the Government adopts the AG’s position in this matter, that “the existing
laws are sufficient to tackle criminals”, and that “it is better to let more
guilty people go free than to send the innocent to jail”.
Therefore,
the Police must start to lose their dependence on the EO like a crutch and instead,
both the Home Minister and the Police must immediately focus the crime-fighting
efforts such as restructuring the police force by reallocating more personnel
to fight crime and setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct
Commission (IPCMC).
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