FORMER de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has cried foul that the disabled Grab driver who was apparently assaulted by the personal guard of Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim was reportedly coerced into accepting a RM800 settlement.
Describing the latest development as having made the matter “not just criminal assault but also of serious police misconduct”, Zaid wants Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to “quickly investigate” if indeed the 46-year-old deaf- mute driver was forced into accepting the payment to withdraw his police report.
“The police told him that his phone would be confiscated if the complaint was not withdrawn. Why are the police taking sides? Are they not supposed to act on all reports without fear of anyone?” asked the founder of Zaid Ibrahim & Co, the largest private law firm in Malaysia (which he no longer owns) in his latest post on the X platform.
“The Home Minister has a grand design for the police force. It was announced that he would get Parliamentary approval to make the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) the Honorary Commissioner of Police Chief.
The story of Grab driver
Yesterday, I said the Grab driver settled with the bodyguard who assaulted him, and that settlement would make it difficult for the police to investigate the complaint. Given the case’s latest development, I wish to apologise to the Grab driver.
It has…
— Zaid Ibrahim (@zaidibrahim) May 30, 2024
“I suggest that before he does that, he should quickly investigate the complaints of the Grab driver whereby he was forced to accept RM800 to withdraw his complaint. It’s embarrassing for the King and country for the King to be the honorary head of a force that participated in bullying a driver with disability.”
Another compelling reason for Saifuddin to order a complete investigation, according to Zaid, is that “we don’t want the country to be run by a police force that abuses its powers”.
“We do not want that from any enforcement agency. There has been a plethora of abuse in the past,” lamented the UMNO member who acted for a short spell as defence attorney for incarcerated premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the RM42 mil SRC International Sdn Bhd money laundering case.
“That’s why we would never know what happened to Teo BEng Hock. Or Indira Gandhi’s daughter or Amri and pastor Koh’s disappearance. Who would have forgotten the many deaths in lock-ups? How much more abuse must we tolerate before the government takes serious actions to reform the police force?”
Yesterday (May 30) Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim had come forward to state that there is no such thing for a criminal case to reach an amicable settlement just because the complainant requested so even if done voluntarily or without being coerced into doing so.
The two-term PKR lawmaker who is also a trained lawyer explained that once a police report is lodged, it is called the first information report.
Upon receiving such a report, the police are duty bound to call up the alleged assailant for questioning if the case is pertaining to a physical assault that falls under the Penal Code. –May 31, 2024
