Thursday November 24, 2005
Cabinet advises cop to withdraw action against girl
BY ELIZABETH LOOI
KUALA LUMPUR: The policeman suing a student for filing a bribery report against him has been advised by the Cabinet to withdraw the case as it is against public policy.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the Cabinet felt that filing a suit against anyone who reported to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) would be tantamount to undermining the Prime Minister’s goal and the Government’s effort in fighting graft.
“The point is, you do not take action against a person who reports to the ACA,” said Nazri, who is also chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights Caucus, a loose group comprising Barisan Nasional and opposition parliamentarians that takes up human rights issues.
He said the police should not take ACA reports against them as a personal matter.
“If the police take such action, then the public will lose trust in them,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday after the Cabinet meeting.
On Tuesday, Foo Sze Kuan met Nazri at Parliament to explain her predicament.
Foo, when stopped at a roadblock on June 13 last year, was found to be driving a car with expired road tax and without a “P” sticker.
She claimed that she felt intimidated by five policemen and paid up when asked for a bribe.
The next day, on her parents’ advice, she lodged a complaint with the ACA.
The ACA subsequently took up a case against one of the policemen.
On Oct 11 this year, the court acquitted him on technical grounds.
However, before the outcome of the case, the policeman filed a suit against Foo in March.
Nazri also said the Cabinet had agreed with Caucus that the police should not harass anyone who lodges police reports.
He said either Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would meet the police soon to convey “the Cabinet’s message for police officers to stop harassing anyone who comes forward to lodge a police report.”
On reports about Immigration officers singling out young Chinese women on the presumption that they are involved in vice, he said the Immigration Department should look at the bigger picture of the country’s relationship with China.
“I received a call from the Chinese Ambassador yesterday (Tuesday) and he told me it was all right to charge Chinese nationals if they commit an offence or break the law, but don’t profile them,” he said.
Commenting on the defamation suit, Malaysian Bar president Yeo Yang Poh said every individual had the right to bring his or her grievance to court.
“But in circumstances such as this, I believe the Cabinet has made a very good and wise decision,” he said.
Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Param Cumaraswamy said he was glad that the Cabinet had intervened speedily on this matter.
“I hope the officer concerned will accept the direction of the Cabinet and withdraw the suit against the student,” he said.
Related Stories:
Student happy with Cabinet decision
Poll: Wrong to sue girl
Opinion:
Action by policemen totally unbecoming
Cop’s suit a blow to anti-graft drive
Go undercover to catch the corrupt
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