KUCHING: It has been three months since Bill Kayong was murdered in cold blood, yet the mastermind of the heinous crime remains scot-free, Baru Bian lamented.
The Sarawak PKR leader said he had last month asked whether Interpol had requested for assistance from its Australian counterpart to arrest the chief suspect and whether the Malaysian Government had made a request for the extradition of the suspect.
“However, there has been no answer forthcoming and I wish to ask these questions again.”
Baru said there had been no word or any communication between the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar and the office of the Federal Commissioner of Police in Australia.
He was speaking to reporters at the party’s headquarters here today.
Bill, a land activist and PKR’s former candidate for the Bekenu state seat, was gunned down in broad daylight in Miri, a traffic light intersection of the Kuala Baram bypass in Senadin, Miri. Bill was 43.
Earlier today, the Magistrate’s Court in Miri fixed Oct 28 to mention the case of three people charged with Bill’s murder, including a bouncer and an owner of a local pub.
Two of them, Mohamad Fitri Pauzi, 29, and Lie Chang Loong, 39, are closely linked to the chief suspect behind Bill’s murder. The other man charged was Chin Wui Chung, 50.
The 43-year-old chief suspect was formerly a plantation manager.
Baru said the revelation that police had recovered seven firearms in the chief suspect’s house raised questions as to how a private citizen managed to acquire so many firearms.
Earlier this week, acting State Secretary Ismawi Ismuni said the state government had the authority to issue shotgun licences to plantation companies.
He said that one of the requirements for the companies was that they must have auxiliary police approved by the royal police force.
Baru, however, said Ismawi’s statement raised several questions.
“Why does the company need so many firearms? Is there no limit to the number of licences that the Miri district officer is authorised to issue to one company?
“Are there no regulations as to who has control of the weapons and where and how they are to be kept?
“Why does the company have auxiliary police and what actually do these so-called auxiliary police do?”
Baru said the government must urgently review its policies and practices in relation to possession of firearms, particularly in situations where there is conflict between the powerful companies and the disadvantaged indigenous communities.
“The lack of acceptable explanations by the authorities continues to cast suspicions on the police in the eyes of the public.
“An innocent life has been lost, a grieving family is missing its husband and father, and we are all still waiting for justice for Bill Kayong.
“The least the police can do is to provide some answers.”