Top cop tells angry Guan Eng, just ask for new police date
Police not getting any third party orders to question Penang chief minister on Chinese New Year’s eve, says Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.
BUTTERWORTH: Reacting to an angry Penang chief minister who has declared he would rather be arrested than follow police orders to be questioned on Chinese New Year’s eve, Malaysia’s top cop has said the date can be changed.
Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said about the police call for Lim Guan Eng to turn up for questioning on the eve of the public holiday: “This shows that the police are ready to work anytime. That date is also a normal working day, not a holiday.”
Guan Eng, who was already interviewed by the police at his office on Jan 13 for police reports filed against him, including one by a 13-year-old, was told by the police he was to be questioned on the same matter again but this time on the eve of Chinese New Year, reported Malaysiakini.
The chief minister reportedly said: “They may as well arrest me! Don’t they know what day it is? It is understandable if they do not respect me as the chief minister, but Chinese New Year eve is a very special day for us.”
Today his father weighed in, calling the police action “harassment”. Lim Kit Siang, who is also DAP parliamentary opposition leader, said he believed the police had received instructions from higher-ups to harass Guan Eng.
“Maybe they want to arrest him on Chinese New Year eve. This is what the people have to face,” the Gelang Patah MP told reporters in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, today.
But Malaysia’s top cop told FMT there was no such order.
“What has the police’s investigation to do with orders from a third party? We don’t take ‘childish’ orders like what Kit Siang is claiming,” he said.
He said the police have no problem changing the Jan 27 appointment to another day to suit Guan Eng.
Jan 27 is Chinese New Year eve, a significant day for the Chinese community as families prepare for reunion dinners ahead of the festivities celebrated by most Chinese of any religion. Guan Eng is a Christian.
Khalid said: “Maybe the investigating officer did not realise the date (was Chinese New Year eve) and wanted to quickly wrap up the probe. So he proposed the date.”
Guan Eng is being investigated for sedition for remarks he made in November last year about the proposal to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act.
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