Police must act when aggressive behaviour is involved
COMMENT When there are acts of aggression, the public do not expect the police to play the role of a mediator.
In any case, whether it involves the son of a cabinet minister, deputy minister or other high-ranking official, the police should not downplay the thuggish behaviour.
Over the past few years, this is what we have observed. For example, there was an incident involving the son of Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and a security guard. What happened after the recording of the incident went viral?
Did the police charge the son of the then-de facto law minister? If not, why not? This involved physical assault, which is strongly condemned by the civil society. How can the aggressor be let off, even with a word of warning?
Recently, the son of Deputy Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was also allegedly involved in a thuggish mob that allegedly attacked Shah Alam parliamentarian Khalid Samad in the compound of the August House.
They say, “Like father, like son.” Indeed, the father was the one who started poking fun at Teresa Kok in Parliament, but the son and a group of Umno members from Pasir Salak constituency in Perak arrived in Parliament and allegedly roughed up Khalid for using the word, ‘sial.’
Firstly, does Umno condone such act? Has any disciplinary measure been meted against these thug-like characters? If not, the police should take serious action against the aggressors without fear or favour, and Umno leaders should not even intervene just because he is the son of a deputy minister.
Whereas the video clip has gone viral and people are aware of who the aggressors are, why did the police not arrest the aggressors and charge them over their thuggish behaviour on the grounds of Parliament?
Why is there a need for a police line-up, and even that, after several weeks since the incident took place? This is one thing that does not make sense to me, especially since the procedure may be necessary only in the yesteryears whereas incidents like this are all caught on video and now it has also gone viral?
Ask your own conscience. If such acts of aggression are allowed, what message are we sending to the thugs? That it is fine for anyone to show thuggish behaviour, or does the double standard only apply to certain persons, since we know that a couple who had roughed up a woman local council enforcement officer were recently charged in court and fined?
The list goes on. What about another group of Umno members in Penang who barged into the Penang state assembly hall? Were they also prosecuted for their act of aggression? What we know is that Seri Delima state assemblyperson RSN Rayer was charged in court, and thereafter acquitted, but should the aggressors go free?
COMMENT When there are acts of aggression, the public do not expect the police to play the role of a mediator.
In any case, whether it involves the son of a cabinet minister, deputy minister or other high-ranking official, the police should not downplay the thuggish behaviour.
Over the past few years, this is what we have observed. For example, there was an incident involving the son of Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and a security guard. What happened after the recording of the incident went viral?
Did the police charge the son of the then-de facto law minister? If not, why not? This involved physical assault, which is strongly condemned by the civil society. How can the aggressor be let off, even with a word of warning?
Recently, the son of Deputy Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was also allegedly involved in a thuggish mob that allegedly attacked Shah Alam parliamentarian Khalid Samad in the compound of the August House.
They say, “Like father, like son.” Indeed, the father was the one who started poking fun at Teresa Kok in Parliament, but the son and a group of Umno members from Pasir Salak constituency in Perak arrived in Parliament and allegedly roughed up Khalid for using the word, ‘sial.’
Firstly, does Umno condone such act? Has any disciplinary measure been meted against these thug-like characters? If not, the police should take serious action against the aggressors without fear or favour, and Umno leaders should not even intervene just because he is the son of a deputy minister.
Whereas the video clip has gone viral and people are aware of who the aggressors are, why did the police not arrest the aggressors and charge them over their thuggish behaviour on the grounds of Parliament?
Why is there a need for a police line-up, and even that, after several weeks since the incident took place? This is one thing that does not make sense to me, especially since the procedure may be necessary only in the yesteryears whereas incidents like this are all caught on video and now it has also gone viral?
Ask your own conscience. If such acts of aggression are allowed, what message are we sending to the thugs? That it is fine for anyone to show thuggish behaviour, or does the double standard only apply to certain persons, since we know that a couple who had roughed up a woman local council enforcement officer were recently charged in court and fined?
The list goes on. What about another group of Umno members in Penang who barged into the Penang state assembly hall? Were they also prosecuted for their act of aggression? What we know is that Seri Delima state assemblyperson RSN Rayer was charged in court, and thereafter acquitted, but should the aggressors go free?
Two recent cases
In the past, the mainstream media may allegedly have been told not to cover certain stories, but with social media now, anything and everything can be ‘WhatsApp-ed’ or ‘Facebook-ed’. Before long, everyone knows about the case.
Two video clips have caught my attention recently. One showed the owner of a Mercedes Benz whose tyre had been clamped by the security guards in a condominium. Apparently, the owner was in the wrong and the police should press charges against him.
He forcibly cut the lock and allegedly went after the security guard who recorded the act. What we want to know is whether the police have charged the man in the video clip. There are countless of other such acts of aggression that we have seen on simple video clips of incidents that people with vested interests may try to cover up.
Just last night, another act of aggression has caught the attention of the nation when several men attacked a lorry driver and his assistant. The quarrel, which started with just a minor accident, had turned into an ugly scene.
Although the two parties have “made up”, the victim was apparently the lorry driver. It is strange that his employer agreed to settle the matter when it was the lorry driver who was injured in the attack.
Although he may be at fault, there is no justification whatsoever for the owner or driver of the luxury car to allegedly attack the lorry driver and his assistant. It is the police’s job to protect civilians from such thuggish behaviour.
At the same time, I want to know whether the police have identified the other four attackers. If the security guards could not identify these men, I am sure there are others present at the ceremony who could identify their guests. Were they together with the driver of the luxury car?
I also want to know if it is true that the police have closed the case after becoming a mediator between the two parties, but is it right to let go the aggressors in this case? The lorry driver was apparently hurt, but it could have been worse if he had been killed in the incident.
This simply does not make sense at all, does it? If people who are being verbally threatened with physical assault are urged to lodge police reports as a deterrent measure, why are the very acts of aggression allowed to happen right in front of our eyes without being dealt with by the long arm of the law?
STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
