Police business: Mohd Syahir (right) speaking with CID officers outside the PAS headquarters at Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, who is being investigated for allegedly issuing an offensive statement against Malay rulers, was quizzed by police at the PAS headquarters here.
Two police officers from the federal Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) classified crime investigation unit arrived at the premises at Jalan Raja Laut around 2.15pm yesterday and spent about an hour recording a statement from the PAS president before leaving the place.
His political secretary Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman said Abdul Hadi had given his cooperation to the police and would leave the matter to Bukit Aman.
He said many questions were posed to Abdul Hadi by the police during the session.
“Abdul Hadi has read the statements of the IGP (Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain) and Home Minister (Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) that a special task force has been formed to investigate this case concerning 3R (race, religion, royalty).
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“We are committed to giving our full cooperation to facilitate the investigations,” the Bachok MP told reporters.
Mohd Syahir said Abdul Hadi’s health was recently affected, which resulted in him not turning up for the opening of Parliament on the advice of doctors.
However, he said Abdul Hadi’s health has since improved.
Mohd Syahir said the PAS leader had also sent a letter of gratitude to the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Monday.
Abdul Hadi is being investigated for sedition and misuse of network facilities after he apparently took a swipe at scholars, lawyers, judges, MPs, assemblymen and the Malay Rulers over the Federal Court’s decision to strike out 16 criminal provisions in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (1) 2019 on Feb 9.
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As a result of his comments on social media on Feb 20, Abdul Hadi received a royal rebuke on Feb 29 from Sultan Sharafuddin for being disrespectful and insolent towards the Malay Rulers.
The Sultan had sent a five-page letter to Abdul Hadi through Selangor PAS chief Datuk Dr Ab Halim Tamuri.
The Ruler, who is the chairman of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI), had called for all Malaysians to respect the Federal Court’s decision and uphold the Federal Constitution as the supreme law of the nation.
Sultan Sharafuddin called for calm while awaiting the results of a study by a special committee on the competency of state assemblies in enacting Islamic laws.
In the letter, Sultan Sharafuddin believed Abdul Hadi had made the statement without thoroughly reading the Sultan’s speech at the MKI meeting on Feb 15.
ALSO READ: Selangor Ruler issues royal rebuke at Hadi
Sultan Sharafuddin described Abdul Hadi’s statement as highly inappropriate and ill-mannered from a Malay cultural standpoint, as well as having the potential to cause confusion and division among Muslims.
Police are investigating Abdul Hadi under the Sedition Act 1948 and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post yesterday, Abdul Hadi said he had sent a letter of gratitude to the Selangor Sultan through the Ruler’s secretary.
“This is to notify that a letter of gratitude was sent to His Majesty’s private secretary Datuk Lela Bakti dated March 4, 2024,” said Abdul Hadi.
However, the PAS leader did not reveal the content of the letter in the Facebook post.
