Letter to Editor
BUKIT Aman has confirmed that an investigation paper has been opened against PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang as of August 28 over his recent claim that non-Muslims and non-Bumiputeras made up the bulk what he described as “roots of corruption”.
Base on my experience, we have lodged massive police reports in the thousands against preachers such as Zakir Naik, Zamri Vinoth, Syakir Nasoha with the most recent against Ustaz Idris Sulaiman on Jan 15.
The same Bukit Aman eventually came out with a statement that an investigation paper has been opened, thus urging the public not to stir further commotion while allowing the police to deal with the matter.
Respectfully, we waited patiently for the police to complete their investigations and I personally followed up one month after another yet I still did not get any answers or responses from the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).
Such cases are always investigated by the Bukit Aman Classified Criminal Investigation Unit (USJT) D5.
Selective prosecution?
After sending several official e-mails I finally received a reply after 200 days stating that the case has been classified as NFA (No Further Action) by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
This is the kind of answers I have been getting all this while. The case would be dragged so as to cool the tension and heat of the moment before ending up with a NFA response. This is the kind of method and tactic used with the assumption that many would have forgotten about the matter and have moved on.
This is what I personally went through on many occasions until I had to file a private prosecution on my own akin to what three individuals in Sarawak did with regard to the religious activist Wan Asshimah Kamaruddin’s case.
Furthermore, why is it that the police always investigate the cases under Section 505(c) of the Penal Code (intending to incite or any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community of persons) or under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for sharing offensive and menacing content?
My question here is why Hadi and many others were not being investigated under:
- Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948;
- Section 298 of the Penal Code (for uttering words, writing on public postings, etc with deliberate intent to wound the religious feeling of any person);
- Section 298A of the Penal Code (for causing disharmony, disunity or feeling of enmity by prejudicing the maintenance of harmony); or
- Section 124B, which states that whoever by any means directly or indirectly commits an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years.
Use Sedition Act against Hadi
This is not the first time Hadi or PAS members have made or issued seditious statements or remarks against non-Muslims in this nation. The Sedition Act must be applied to them as well.
After all, the same police unit was so quick to open an investigation paper under Section 298A of the Sedition Act against stand-up comedian Siti Nuramira Abdullah in the Crackhouse Comedy Club incident on June 4.
In another incident, writer Uthaya Sankar was arrested and also probed under Section 298A of the Sedition Act with regard to him posting a Facebook explanation about polygamy in Islam and how Prophet Muhammad practised it on April 11.
The point here is why such double standards when it comes to non-Muslims. The law and justice should be equal to all Malaysians according to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
Hadi’s case is a very straightforward one whereby the police should conclude the investigation within 14 days.
But if the case drags on with indefinite silence, then we know what the likely outcome is already. Again we have to go through the process of filing a private prosecution on the matter.
I have two pending active private prosecutions in the court – one against two preachers who have been insulting and attacking non-Islamic religions and another against the Attorney-General himself for classifying the case as NFA even though all the necessary evidences have been provided.
In today’s social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, YouTube and WhatsApp, netizens are expressing their disappointment over the law enforcement agencies by predicting that NFA will be the most probably outcome for Hadi – in the same manner as how many other errant preachers got away.
There is no longer any trust left among non-Muslim Malaysians towards the authorities or the law enforcement agencies.
We shall follow up on Hadi’s case so closely that we will demand for an immediate action without further delay as stipulated under the Malaysian law. – Aug 29, 2022
Shashi Kumar is president of the Global Human Rights Federation.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.