A Berita Harian report claims that the police have applied for 13 arrest warrants, but a PKR leader says there is no basis for this and demands an apology.
KUALA LUMPUR: The police have applied for arrest warrants to haul in 13 individuals, including Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and national laureate A Samad Said (photo), in connection with the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9.
Berita Harian reported that among the luminaries on the list were Anwar’s daughter, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, PAS vice-president Husam Musa, PKR MP R Sivarasa, PAS MP Hatta Ramli, Bersih 2.0 steering committee members Haris Ibrahim and Wong Chin Huat, PKR leaders Latheefa Koya and Badrul Hisham Shaharin as well as former Perak Speaker V Sivakumar.
The list also contained the name of PAS Titiwangsa MP Dr Lo’ Lo’ Ghazali but she had passed away on Sunday.
Umno Youth exco member Reezal Merican Naina Merican was also on the list for failing to turn up at the Dang Wangi police headquarters to assist investigation.
Berita Harian reported that the Kuala Lumpur police had submitted their findings to Bukit Aman, which stated that the 13 failed to assist in investigations and that applications were submitted for arrest warrants.
Previously, the police recorded statements from Bersih 2.0 chairperson S Ambiga, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, his deputy Mohamad Sabu, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, Putera 1Malaysia Club chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and Anwar’s youngest daughter, Nurul Iman.
‘IGP, newspaper must apologise’
Meanwhile, PKR vice-president and lawyer N Surendran said there was no basis to seek the arrest warrants.
‘IGP, newspaper must apologise’
Meanwhile, PKR vice-president and lawyer N Surendran said there was no basis to seek the arrest warrants.
He also dismissed the claim that Anwar, Samad, Husam, Sivarasa, Nurul, Hatta and Latheefa had been called for questioning but failed to turn up on July 11.
“We are surprised by this threat of issuance of warrants of arrest. We confirm that none of the persons mentioned above received any notification from the police to attend questioning. Based on this, we also believe none of the other persons mentioned had received notification,” he said.
Furthermore, Surendran said, when called for questioning by the police prior to the rally, all the individuals mentioned extended their fullest cooperation and attended questioning at Dang Wangi.
“This cooperation to the police has always been given by opposition leaders despite the fact that police investigations into peaceful assemblies by the opposition have been consistently biased, unfair and in breach of Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.
“We regard the report in Berita Harian as uncalled for, mischievous and intended to put the opposition in a bad light.
“We view this matter seriously and call for an immediate explanation/apology by the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar and the newspaper concerned,” he added.
