©The
Sun (Used by permission)
Citizen Nades by R. Nadeswaran
EVER WONDERED why the police force is unable to close files and solve crimes? Do you know why witnesses to crimes do not want to come forward? Why do witnesses suddenly have memory lapses and declare: "I did not see anything." I got the answers yesterday. Two police officers from the Commercial Crime Division of Bukit Aman gave an insight into how investigations are carried out and I can tell you with a clear conscience that it was an exercise in futility because their line of questioning would have insulted the intelligence of any right–thinking person.
Assistant Superintendents Wan Zainal Wan Mat and Albany Hamzah turned up at the
office and said that they needed to record my statement in relation to police
investigations into the transfer of funds from Balkis. To say that they came
ill–prepared would be an understatement. To say that they never read any of the
reports in theSun or any other newspaper would be the bitter truth. They
are supposed to be investigating the transfer of RM9.9 million, and yet had no
clue as to how to go about doing the job. This is because they came with
pre–conceived notions and pre–prepared questions, perhaps drafted by their
superiors, in the hope that this writer would shoot himself in the foot by
implicating himself.
After the caution was administered under the Criminal Procedure Code and the
usual questions on my qualifications and my career, it was crystal clear they
wanted me to reveal my sources and wanted documents in my possession. Not that I
had run foul of the Official Secrets Act because none of the documents cited
were classified, but they came on a fishing expedition to get me to expose my
hand and to find out what is going to be published in the future. They expected
me to sing like a canary!
Terence Fernandez and I looked at each other in despair when asked: Merujuk
kepada petikan yang terdapat dalam artikel berkaitan dengan memetik kenyataan
Yeo Yang Poh (former president of the Bar Council), dari manakah sumber petikan
berkenaan diperolehi? (Your article had a quote from former Bar Council
president Yeo Yang Poh. What is the source of the quote?) If only the two
officers had cared to read the first paragraph of my report which was in front
of their eyes they would have known where it came from – the Malaysian Bar
website. But no, they had read nothing. What has Yeo’s comments got to do
with their investigations?
They wanted to know if "I was instructed to write" and wanted to know if I had
read the constitution of Balkis. If they had read all the reports on Balkis,
they would have known that I quoted its constitution extensively. But no, they
just cast the line hoping for a bite. The next question: Adakah kamu ada
menyimpan perlembagaan Balkis. (Are you keeping a copy of the constitution)
Did they expect a "Yes" from me? Even if I had it, does it make it an offence
unless of course they thought they are putting the fright into me?
Are you in possession of a letter from the Registrar of Societies dated April 14
addressed to the mentri besar? Well, that’s not a classified document and even
if I had it, would they have expected me to say: "Yes, I have it."? They showed
their hands too early and they thought they trumped me by asking: "You write
that "according to documents sighted by theSun", can you tell me what the
documents are. My curt reply: "I cannot tell you because it is unethical for
journalists to reveal what (documents) they saw or read."
By which time, they had no more cards to play. They threw in the sai–lang card:
"Dimanakah kamu dapat dokumen–dokumen berkenaan?" (Where did you get the
documents from?") Was this an investigation into Balkis or a probe to trace the
source of my documents?
When they asked the final question, I blew my top because it not only became
harassment but also bordered on stupidity. I was asked: Adakah kamu tahu
siapa hakim bertindak sebagai penasihat undang–undang kepada Bakti sebagaimana
yang dinyatakan oleh akhbar theSun? (Do you know the identity of the judge
who acted as the legal adviser of Balkis?)
I asked the relevance of such a question. The answer was: ‘When the case goes to
court, we need to answer all these questions".
Don’t they read the newspapers? Didn’t theSun name the judge after which the Bar
Council and the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and
Lawyers commented on it? My answer: "This was previously reported in theSun.
Please refer to the papers."
Dear readers, you be the judge. You decide if this witness has suddenly become
the accused. Send your views to mailto:
citizen–[email protected]
The police officers started investigations after a report was lodged in Kajang based on the above article which was published on April 28. The least they could have done was to read and digest the contents. If they had done so, they won’t be asking questions on Yeo and his famous quote.