AT 8.15am yesterday (Nov 20), I received a WhatsApp message from one Inspector Firdaus from Bukit Aman who requested me to contact him. I did not pick up his calls earlier as the number was unknown to me.
I messaged Firdaus at 11.18am the same day and enquired on the purpose of his call to which he explained was over my recent Facebook (FB) post entitled “PMX, Stop Provoking Israel”.
Firdaus also mentioned that 11 police reports have been lodged against me over the post and he sought my cooperation to meet up as he needed to record a statement from me.
I wish to state here that Inspector Firdaus has been courteous and polite as well as willingly obliged when I asked him for his full name, rank and police reg number which he gave as “Inspector G2276 Mohd Firdaus bin Abdullah”.
I wish to categorically state here that I have not done anything wrong nor have I broken any law in my recent post on FB other than to state my disagreement with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his purported intention to call for the sacking of Israel from the United Nations.
Perhaps, it is necessary for me to remind our politicians that freedom of speech as enshrined in many democratic constitutions protects the right of individuals to express their opinions even when those opinions disagree with or criticise political leaders, including the PM or his government’s policies.
I have always hold dear and true to this principle which is fundamental to democracy as it encourages open dialogue and exchange of diverse ideas in my four decades as a journalist.
The other issue which I must take up here is the abuse of public institutions such as the police to silence dissent. This undermines democratic principles and erodes public trust in these institutions.
Public institutions like the police are tasked with upholding the law impartially and protecting the rights of all citizens, including those who dissent or criticise the government.
When they are misused for political purposes such as targeting activists, journalists or opposition figures, it represents an abuse of power and a violation of civil liberties.
In most cases and certainly in this one, the police are not to be blamed for wasting the precious hours of one of its young, energetic officers like Inspector Firdaus to deal with a harmless senior citizen whose only crime is disagreeing with certain policies of the prime minister.
The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of some political sycophants who excessively flatter or align themselves with those in power to gain personal advantage and who pose significant dangers to governance, democracy and society as a whole.
I am caught in this awkward situation with the police having wasted its time because of these political parasites and leeches. – Nov 21, 2024
Francis Paul Siah heads the Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image credit: Francis Paul Siah/Facebook
