Press Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, September 29,1995:
Call on all NGOs in the country endorse the call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Police bias in handling police investigations and to faster a new police philosophy in keeping with a caring and human society
Yesterday, I went to Bukit Aman and submitted for forwarding to the Inspector-General of Police ,Tan Sri Rahim investigating government leaders and police officers as compared to Opposition leaders.
In submitting my Indictment of Police bias when investigating leaders and police officers as compared to Opposition leaders, I called for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the whole issue of Police bias when conducting police investigations , so as to restore public confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the Police.
In actual fact, there is not only Police bias against Opposition leaders but also police bias against critics and dissenters of the Government of the day , as illustrated by the Police reaction and handling of Teenaganita’s allegations of maltreatment of migrant workers at the immigration detention camps and the long-running saga of police interrogation of Irene Fernandez, which has entered into its fourth day.
I call on all NGOs in the country to endorse the call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Police bias in handling police investigation involving government leaders as compared to critics and dissenters as the time has come for Malaysians to make clear their expectation of the type of Police force they want in the country, and the polce philosophy which should motivate the Malaysian Police force.
The Malaysian police must not deviare from its responsibility of being custodian of law and order and protector of the people to became a law unto itself, and all top police officers must fully realize that they are accountable for their actions to the people- not just the law .but to public opinion as well !
Top police officers should also realize that Opposition party and leaders, critics, and dissementers are not disloval or “anti-national”, but practicing an even higher level of patriotism by trying to correct the weaknesses and wrongs of the Malaysian society.
I will table in Parliamentary my Indictment on Police bias when conducting investigations when Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on October 16 so that it could become subject of Parliamentary debate
I am circulating my five-page Indictment of six charges against Police bias when conducting police investigations and the call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to NGOs in the country and I hoped NGOs can play their part in moulding a Malaysian Police to meet the objectives of a caring and humane society.
I will also table in Parliamentary my Indictment against Police bias when conducting police investigations when the Dewan Rakyat reconvenes for 39-day Budget meeting on Oct.16 so that it could become the subject of Parliamentary debate.
In this connection, I am still waiting for an appointment with the CID Director, Datuk Mohamed Said Awang for the Bukit Aman to defend itself against my Indictment.
On Wednesday, Bukit Aman issued a press statement through its public relations chief Supt. Ghazali Mohamed Amin,which was carried prominently on radio and television, giving the impression that I was a “wanted man “,stating that the CID Director wanted to see me.
With such radio and television publicity, one would have been excused for thinking that I must have commited some terrible crime, that I am “on the run” and that I am no different from a common criminal.
If the Bukit Aman an treat a Parliamentary Opposition Leader with such contempt and insensitivity , one can imagine how they could treat ordinary citizens who are unfortunate to have encounters with them.
I was and still very angry with the Bukit Aman statement, and this was why I immediately cancelled my flight back to Penang and demanded to meet with Datuk Syed Awang immediately, and why I went to Bukit Aman yesterday.
In my 30 years of public life, I have never run away form the Police. I hope Bukit Aman is not running away from me.