KUALA LUMPUR – Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has accused the inspector-general of jumping the gun and concluding that DAP man Tony Pua is guilty of sedition before even taking his statement.
“If the IGP (Tan Sri Razarudin Husain) has already concluded yesterday that Pua’s statement is seditious in nature, why is there a need to ask him to attend at Bukit Aman today for the purpose of assisting in investigations?
“He should refrain from making comments inferring guilt on the part of Pua when investigations into his case haven’t even concluded.
“Remarks like these from the nation’s top cop do not inspire confidence in the impartiality of the investigation process and the IGP should do his job professionally and not be seen to influence the investigation process,” he said in a statement today.
Ramkarpal, who is a former deputy law minister, is among the very few DAP leaders to come out publicly to support Pua. Others were Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii and former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.
Yesterday, Razarudin said Pua is being investigated for sedition after taking many jabs at the Pardons Board’s decision to halve former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s jail term.
Aside from Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, the former Damansara MP is also being investigated for misuse of network facilities under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Pua has to present himself at Bukit Aman police headquarters here at 1pm today.
Police cited the following posts by Pua – “Trust me. It’s not a scam”, “Oh wow, after all these years, NAJIB/UMNO cybertrooper still love me”, “I beg your pardon?”, “Can someone send me to jail for 1 year and in exchange, pay me RM50 mil? Pretty please?”, and “King Klep pardoned!!”
“Statements such as this could incite the public to hate and insult the royal institution and Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s absolute powers provided under Article 42 of the federal constitution,” said Razarudin.
On Friday, the Pardons Board secretariat for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya announced that Najib had been granted a reduced jail sentence and fine.
Najib’s jail sentence was halved from 12 years to six, while his fine was reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.
He would have to serve an additional year in prison should he fail to pay the fine.
Najib began serving his prison sentence on August 23, 2022 after losing his final appeal at the Federal Court. He submitted his application for a royal pardon in September of the same year.
The former Umno president was convicted by the high court in July 2020 of corruption involving RM42 million of funds belonging to SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. – February 5, 2024