IGP: Dr M not treated like a criminal during questioning

JOHOR BARU: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain has denied the allegation made by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad of being treated like a criminal during questioning.

He added that the police were merely carrying out their duty by conducting an investigation.

“On our part, we continue with the investigation. This is a police investigation, we need to complete it because if we do not complete it then we will seem biased,” he said.

Razarudin said this after witnessing the handover of Johor police chief post between Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat, who is retiring, and Comm M. Kumar at state police headquarters here on Wednesday (January 24).

He added that police would need three to four days to complete their investigation papers on Dr Mahathir before handing them over to the Attorney General’s Chambers.

On Tuesday, Dr Mahathir Mohamad complained that he was being treated like a common criminal for voicing his own opinion.

He said he was a law-abiding citizen who merely spoke his mind.

“Over the last few years, I have had my statements recorded by police at least ten times.

“Once you become a Tun, you will be investigated,” he added.

He questioned if he was allowed to speak at all.

“Our country is supposed to have freedom of speech. This is my opinion. Others made even more racist statements but it was okay. But when I say something, it cannot be accepted,” he said while adding that he was informed 18 people had lodged reports over his recent interview with an Indian TV channel.

Dr Mahathir said during his session with investigators on Tuesday, he was asked a total of 19 questions.

“There were some questions that I answered while others I simply responded that I would answer in court.

“They (police) even showed me a 30-minute clip of my interview and asked me if I could see anything wrong with my statement but I answered that I saw nothing wrong with it,” he said.

Recently, Dr Mahathir has been embroiled in a war of words with several leaders for claiming that the Indian community is not completely loyal to Malaysia as they are still tied to their country of origin, in an exclusive interview with Thanthi TV.