KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional (PN) regards the government using the police to ambush and arrest the caretaker Menteri Besar of Kedah Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md. Nor at 3am was excessive and persecuting due to political revenge.
Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said, the Menteri Besar should not be treated that way as he had already requested for forgiveness on the issue and told his readiness to cooperate with the police with the notice to be present in court had also been received.
“The charge on Muhammad Sanusi is an offence under Section 4(1) (a) Sedition Act 1948 that carries a maximum fine of RM5, 000. As such it was very clear that the way the arrest was done was excessive compared to the charge.
“The prosecution team headed by the Attorney General had offered a bail of only RM5, 000. This clearly showed that the arrest was overly done compared to the allegation.
“At the same time I oppose strongly the selected allegation and abuse of the Sedition Act with the aim of political persecution. There is a non- PN leader involved in giving seditious statement but no legal action is taken,” Hamzah said in a statement.
According to Hamzah who is also the Larut Member of Parliament, it is the policy of the party to always uphold, protect and defend the glory of the Malay Rulers’ Institution as the Constitutional King. This policy will continue to be defended.
On another development the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain clarified that the arrest of Sanusi on Tuesday morning was the result of the police’s inability to contact the Pas leader prior to his court hearing.
Razarudin said, numerous calls had been made by the police to Sanusi and his political secretary but to no avail.
“Since we could reach him, we tried to find and found him at 2.30am at Mont Kiara. He was arrested to ensure that he attended the court to hear the charges against him,” he said at a press conference at Bukit Aman as reported by NST.
Regarding Sanusi’s charges that touched on race, religion and royalty (3R) Razarudin said this case involved the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan of Selangor and due to this dissatisfaction (Sanusi’s statement), the Selangor Council of the Royal Court was compelled to lodge a police report against Sanusi last Friday.
“We can see from the degree of the investigation that it had brought insult and a sense of disloyalty towards the royals. If we let these sorts of things to go on, all nine Malay rulers might be subject to insults,” he said.
Earlier Sanusi pleaded not guilty in two Selayang Sessions Court to charges of inciting the public over his remarks on the appointment of the Selangor Menteri Besar and the establishment of the unity government during a political talk 11th July 2023.
The charges under Section 4(1) (a) of the Sedition Act carry a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment or RM5, 000 fine or both upon conviction. – Malaysia World News
