MAHATIR’S REFLECTIONS ON A REVOLUTION MESSAGE TO MALAYSIAN AIM THE POLICE ARE THE REAL RULER OF MALAYSIA

TO NAJIB DON’T GET ‘FACEBOOK-ED.’ OUT SAME SYSTEM OF CORRUPTION, NEPOTISM AND POLICEBRUTALITY IN EGYPT AND MALAYSIA LETS DO THE REVOLUTIONARY INNOVATION
Mahatir said this You don’t argue with men with guns

Later on in the book, Mahathir betrays a hint of timidity with the police force.

When Plate asked whether Mahathir’s control over the police, even as a powerful prime minister, was not absolute, the elder statesman agreed.

“No, not absolute. You have to learn to live with the people with guns,” he said.

“But then, does that make you to some extent a hostage of the people who have guns?” asked Plate.

“To a certain extent… everybody is. You see, you have to give people the means to enforce, and then of course they are better equipped than you are. You have to accept the fact that when they tell you that certain things need to be done, you have to respect them.

“If you keep running them down – there have been instances where they were run down by the government as being incompetent, corrupt and all that – what happens then?” he asked, hinting that the police may in the end go on strike.

Mahathir wanted to abolish the ISA but the police said NO:
“I suggested scrapping of the ISA, but I depended on national security advice from the police and they said ‘cannot’ (because) there still are threats,” he said.
BUT Hanif Omar said his duty at the time was to uphold the law and that amending or abolishing the ISA was the duty of the Parliament.
Mahathir did not want to use the ISA BUT the police made him do so.
Mahathir did not want to sign the extension of detention order BUT the police made him do so.
He wanted to shorten the detention to a year BUT the police wanted it to be extended to 2 years.
So, who was the head of government? PM or IGP?
Abdullah Badawi wanted to implement the IPCMC BUT the police said NO.
The public/Anti-ISA activists/pro-democracy activists/Bersih/Hindraf wanted to gather peacefully, a right which is guaranteed by the federal constitution, BUT the police said NO.
So, which is the highest authority of the land? Police or Federal constitution?
We need to get it right and clarified once and for all. Is Malaysia a democratic country or a police state?
Who is providing a check-and-balance on the police if they are so powerful?
Imagine Mahathir being led by the nose by the police, or so he claimed. This is a serious matter. The police image is being tarnished by Mahathir’s revelation.
Or Mahathir is turning into a forgetful stand up comedian?

EGYPT’S CHIEF PROSECUTOR HAS ORDERED AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEATH OF KHALED SAEED, A YOUNG MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY POLICE IN THE COASTAL CITY OF ALEXANDRIA.

ACTIVISTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS SAY THE 28-YEAR-OLD WAS TORTURED TO DEATH FOR POSSESSING VIDEO MATERIAL THAT IMPLICATES MEMBERS OF THE POLICE IN A DRUG DEAL.

THE ALLEGATIONS OF SAEED BEING BRUTALLY MURDERED BY POLICE TRIGGERED PROTESTS IN ALEXANDRIA AND CAIRO, THE CAPITAL.

AL JAZEERA’S RAWYA RAGEH REPORTS ON HOW POLICE BRUTALITY HAS ONCE AGAIN PUT THE COUNTRY’S EMERGENCY LAW UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT.

S

WAEL GHONIM, SYMBOLIC LEADER OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION, GAVE AN INTERVIEW TO 60 MINUTES ON SUNDAY NIGHT. HIS MESSAGE IS CLEAR AND COMPELLING. DICTATORS OF THE WORLD WHO OPPRESS THEIR PEOPLE, YOU SHOULD BE FREAKING OUT NOW. WATCH HERE:

Since 2000, at least 147 people have died in police custody (unless otherwise stated, statistics are from PDRM – released during P.Uthayakumar’s ongoing sedition trial) but yet there is little accountability, transparency or any real investigations by the authorities responsible, namely the courts, the police, the Attorney General’s Chambers and the hospitals which provide medical assistance or conduct post-mortems.

Despite the obvious seriousness of any death in custody, these important state institutions in most, if not all of these cases, chose to gloss, downplay, cover up, ignore or even make outrageous claims over these deaths – causing these institutions to lose credibility and public confidence.

Just look at the recent deaths of A.Kugan while in custody of the USJ police station in January 2009 and Teoh Beng Hock while in custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Shah Alam in July 2009 which caused extraordinary public outcry, anger and fear over the conduct of enforcement agencies during interrogations, the practice of torture and the lack of clear standard operating procedures.

Some of the outrageous claims made: for A.Kugan’s death – he suddenly collapsed and died while drinking water, and therefore the police are not to be blamed (Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar); and Teoh Beng Hock – he committed suicide or choked himself and the officer even proceeded to demonstrate the act to the court! (MACC prosecution chief Abdul Razak Musa). How can these people continue to hold high level positions when it is clear that they are neither competent nor truthful when discharging their public duties?

Although under the Penal Code, inquest into deaths in custody is mandatory, in reality, very few inquests are conducted. The Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Police (May 2005) revealed that inquests were done on only 6 out of the 80 deaths in police custody in the four-year period.

Even when inquests are conducted, the whole process is extremely slow, cumbersome, often taking several years to complete, and highly unsatisfactory with the AG’s Chambers officers downplaying or suppressing the evidence, the medical authorities working hand in glove with the police and the AG’s Chambers and typically attributing “natural causes” and other unacceptable reasons for the cause of death. Such unholy alliance leads to “open verdicts” in many inquiries which simply meant that the cause of death was unclear and therefore no one can be held responsible.

Just look at the death of R.Gunasegaran at the Sentul police station in July 2009; no policemen were found culpable even though there were eyewitnesses to his brutal beatings. Worse still, one of the key eyewitnesses K.Selvach who bravely testified at the inquest was detained without trial on the very day the open verdict was delivered – an obvious case of police retaliation. Selvach is now being detained at the Batu Gajah rehabilitation camp.

Despite the long list of custodial deaths, very few policemen are criminally charged much less found guilty of any offence. Statistics between 2000 and February 2010 showed that 64 Malays died while in police custody, with 30 deaths among Chinese detainees, 28 Indians, 8 other races, and 14 foreigners. At least one thing you cannot accuse the police is that they practice discrimination – as all types of people die in their custody! (But probably not the rich, powerful and well connected).

readmore Mahatir’s Reflections on a Revolution Message to Malaysian aim the POLICE are the Real Ruler of Malaysia

Posted by chittarkotain