Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has come under fire for refusing to respond to the Bar Council pertaining questions of double standards in police arrests.
In a statement, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo weighed in on Khalid asking Bar Council president Steven Thiru not to question him regarding police arrests.
“Bar Council president Steven Thiru has every right to question the IGP over matters of public interest and the IGP, as head of the police force should respond to those questions,” said Gobind.
When questioned by Thiru about the double standards in dealing with the anti-Goods and Services Tax (GST) protesters, as opposed to the Taman Medan church protesters (who were not arrested), Khalid quoted the “separation of powers” – saying that lawyers had no right to question police actions. Khalid had also asked Thiru to reserve his questions for court.
“If the IGP cannot respond, he should say so and not throw in concepts such as asking his questioners to “keep their questions in court” or the doctrine of “separation of powers”,” Gobind said.
He said that police actions were subject to public criticism, and that they exercise powers of arrest and investigations given to them by Parliament. He added also that matters seen as abuse of power are questionable.
“Khalids reliance on the doctrine of separation of powers reflects a shallow understanding on his part of the concept.”
“It has nothing to do with public criticisms of the police and the manner in which they conduct themselves, public criticism and the need for responses to them,” said Gobind.
Gobind, like Thiru, urged the IGP for a response as to why the force did not arrest protesters demanding for a cross at a two day old Taman Medan Church to be brought. The protest was led by the IGP’s elder brother Abdullah Abu Bakar who said that “things could have gotten worse”, had he not minimized the tension from the whole incident.
The 50 or so protesters claimed that the cross was threatening to the faith of the Muslim majority housing area.
The cross was later taken down.
However, in the Labour Day anti GST protest that drew over 10,000 people, 59 were arrested by the police – 29 of whom were detained including minors and big names such as S.Arutchelvan (Parti Sosialis Malaysia Secretary General),Anthony Loke (DAP National Organising Secretary) Ambiga Sreenevasan (ex-Bersih Chair) and Dr Hatta Ramli (PAS Central Committee Member). The police had even applied to extend their remand period.
Thiru in his statement slamming the arrests said that the hallmark of a modern and progressive nation is to embrace peaceful expressions of dissent while allowing citizens their fundamental right to peacefully protest. He said that this was a norm in any vibrant democracy.
-The Rocket
