The attorney-general may have good reasons to drop the case against Gerakan member Tan Lai Soon for saying Malays are also "pendatang", Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim said today.
 
"The AG might have good reasons. Why? Maybe he looked into the evidence, the ingredients of the case. Maybe because of that, they made the decision based on their findings.

Yesterday, Pertubuhan-pertubuhan Pembela Islam (Pembela) claimed that attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail had not pursued the case and asked him to give an explanation as to why the case was discontinued.

On this, Noor Rashid pointed out that there are always other ways to continue the case.

"If there are any people who not satisfied, they can bring it to the court through other means," Noor Rashid told a press conference at the federal police headquarters at Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur.

Tan (right), a Batu Pahat Gerakan division member, drew flak when he said during the Gerakan national conference that with the exception of the Orang Asli and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, the others the the country were “pendatang” or immigrants.

Tan also said that the Malays also emigrated from Indonesia, and went on to take swipes at right-wing Malay movements Perkasa and Isma, leading to at least 20 police reports being made against him.

Meanwhile, asked about the latest developments on Wanita Umno delegate Mashitah Ibrahim’s case, Noor Rashid claimed that the police are “professional” and side with no one when it comes to investigation, even if they are from Umno.

“We do not care, as long as anybody commits an offence, we will take action.

“As far as the police are concerned, we are very professional,” he stressed.

He added that the police had probed many who were not Umno members, but could not take legal action as there was  lack of evidence.

While acknowledging he is not familiar with the current status of the case, he stated that the role of police is to investigate.

“When there is a case, we will conduct an investigation, after the investigation is concluded, we will refer to the attorney-general,” he said.

“But of course, there must be ample, good, strong evidence for anybody to be charged,” he added.

Mashitah (left), who was also a deputy minister, is being probe due to her allegation that “Chinese burned the Quran in Kedah” during the Umno general assembly.

The police have since recorded a statement from Mashitah as well as Malaysiakini journalists over the news portal’s article on her speech.

The police are investigating the former deputy minister under Section 505 of the Penal Code for racial incitement