ANWAR'S BLACK-EYE

Media Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAPSecretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jayaon Saturday, 7th November 1998:

Mohtar Abdullah should be concerned about the long delay in policeinvestigation into Anwar’s black-eye rather than an incorrect reportthat police inquiries have been completed and submitted to him.

The Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah was very angryyesterday, personally signing a statement vehemently denying a pressreport that his office has received a report from the special teaminvestigating former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahimthat he was beaten up while in police custody at Bukit Aman.

Mohtar said in a strongly-worded statement that his office will lodgea police report against The Star for publishing false news.

Mohtar’s vehement reaction raised eyebrows, both nationally andinternationally, for what should concerned him most asAttorney-General should be the long delay in the police investigation into Anwar’s black-eye and bruises while in police custody rather than an incorrect press report that police inquirieshave been completed and submitted to him.

The Attorney-General has got his sense of priorities all wrong when heis more obsessed by an incorrect press report clearly made in goodfaith, wanting to launch a prosecution over it for "false news", whenwhat should incense him most is the manifest injustice at theinordinate delay over police investigations into Anwar’s "black eye"which has caused such great damage to Malaysia’s reputation, bothnationally and internationally.

Mohtar told the New Straits Times today that he did not have theauthority to speed up police investigations into Anwar "black-eye" andit was improper for him to instruct the police to speed up theirinvestigations.

This has intensified the mystery surrounding the police investigationsinto Anwar’s allegations of police brutality against him on the firstnight of his arrest on September 20, why the police is taking such aninordinately long time, now for more than one-and-a-half-months, tocomplete investigations into a very straightforward case, when Anwarwas completely in police custody in Bukit Aman lock-up!

There had earlier been a flurry of contradictory statements by theAttorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor, and the Malaysian public are still completely in the dark aboutthe identity of the members of the "independent police investigationteam" into Anwar’s black-eye; how the police can credibly establishan "independent police investigation team" into allegations of policebrutality against Anwar when the police is itself the subject of theaccusation; why the government and police had rejected calls for acompletely independent inquiry board without any police participationto regain public confidence and establish the integrity of the policeforce.

The Malaysian public are now told that the independent police investigation team is not answerable to the Inspector-General ofPolice or even to the Prime Minister in his capacity as Home Minister.The Attorney-General said yesterday that he had no authority to askthe independent police investigation team to speed up itsinvestigations. Who then is responsible for the independent policeinvestigation team?

It would appear that nobody is now responsible for the independentpolice investigations team and there is nobody to turn to if the teamsits on its investigation indefinitely.This is most ridiculous and unacceptable situation because everyone istrying to "pass the buck" over Anwar’s black-eye.

The Malaysian publicare entitled to know why the special police investigation team intoAnwar’s black-eye is taking such an inordinately long time, who arethe members of the team, and whether it is true and believable thatthe Inspector-General of Police and the Prime Minister are notresponsible whatsoever for the conduct of the special policeinvestigations team - to the extent that they know nothing about thepolice investigations.- Lim Kit Siang (7/11/98)