Friday, May 6, 2011

If It Was Anwar, So What?

By P Ramakrishnan, Aliran’s President

The motive is to implant the impression in the minds of Malaysians that the performer in the sex tape is Anwar – to the extent that a senior police officer from Bukit Aman reportedly has been in Kelantan for several weeks meeting with principals and teachers and informing them it is Anwar who is in the tape.

Leaving aside the question if this is the paramount duty of the police in curbing violence and assuring our personal safety and security, a pertinent question to ask is, “Why is it so important for the police to implicate Anwar in this sex scandal?”

Just for argument’s sake, so what if it was Anwar? What law has he breached; what offence has he committed? Malaysians would want the police to state in clear terms what Anwar is guilty of as far as the sex tape is concerned. What section of the Penal Code is applicable to charge him for that particular offence?

Malaysians don’t want the police to go on a wild goose chase only to be told later on that there was nothing to it! Malaysians don’t want to be taken for a ride by the police. They want the police to state very clearly whether Anwar has a case to answer. They have to state this immediately to convince the Malaysian public that the police are not wasting their time on inconsequential issues. They have a duty to perform better and conduct themselves professionally.

While the police are chasing a ghost in the sex tape, why haven’t they taken any action against those people who are guilty as hell? What is holding them back? We need answers to convince us that there are no double standards!

The terrible trio have confessed to possessing the sex tape; that makes them guilty under the Penal Code. They have confessed to screening this pornographic tape to the public – albeit to a select few; that makes them guilty. What more evidence do the police need before springing into action?

Are the terrible trio any better than the peddlers of pornographic CDs who are rightly hounded by the police? In what ways are the terrible trio different in their conduct in what they did? Malaysians want to know why the police are reluctant to charge them for having committed crimes that are punishable under Malaysian law. What is holding up the police from taking action against them?

The Minister of Home Affairs who is in charge of the police owes the Malaysian public an explanation. We await his response!