Police record statements from two editors over a report published on its website on Sept 5.
Online Harakah edition editors Azmi Yusoff and Mohd Nazri Abdullah were questioned for about an hour over the article, “Mat Indera: Umno guris rakyat Johor”, published on Sept 5, 2011.
PAS Johor Chief, Suhaizan Kaiat, was quoted in the article as saying Umno must be careful when commenting on the Bukit Kepong incident in 1950 as the people of Johor have been offended by Umno’s reference to Mat Indera as a traitor to the country.
Chief editor Zulkifli Sulong said a police report had been lodged against Harakah for carrying the article, saying it contained false information.
Two officers from the Jalan Tun HS Lee police station came to the Harakah office this morning to question the two editors and have their statements recorded.
Zulkifli defended the article, saying that it was “very straight forward” and that it merely quoted Suhaizan’s opinion whose views were based on the book ‘Pengukir Nama Johor’.
“The book ‘Pengukir Nama Johor’ had presented a view that Mat Indera was not a communist but a nationalist. That’s why Suhaizan made such a statement,” said Zulkifli.
Zulkifli also questioned why was there was a debate over the Mat Indera issue now, when the Johor government itself had declared that Mat Indera was not a communist by endorsing the said book.
“Utusan Malaysia also toned down its rhetoric today, and where before they had called him communist, they are now saying that Mat Indera was a communist collaborator.
“Anyone who was against the British at that time (had) collaborated with the communists to fight the colonial masters,” he said.
‘We merely reported a statement’
‘Pengukir Nama Johor’, a project by the Johor Heritage Foundation (YWJ), was endorsed by the state government. Defenders of Mat Indera used the article, written by Ismail Adnan, to argue that Mat Indera was a nationalist.
However, the book also contained a reference by Sahgidon Dirham to Mat Indera being a communist. YWJ director, Muhammad Fuad Radzuan had said that “it was up to the community to interpret and evaluate” the book.
Zulkifli added that in addition to the two editors, he himself was to be questioned over the matter but the police decided that they had sufficient information from the two editors.
Reacting to the police questioning, Azmi said he was “used to it” and stated that the article did not make any conclusions over the issue.
“This isn’t the first time that I have been questioned by the police. I’m used to it in my line of work as an editor,” he said.
“The article did not make any conclusion if Mat Indera was a fighter or a traitor. We merely reported the statement which was based on the book,” he added.
The Mat Indera controversy came about when PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, in a speech on Aug 21, had defended the communist fighters who attacked the Bukit Kepong police station on Feb 23, 1950, as heroes and not the 17 policemen who died in the exchange of fire.
Many quarters criticised Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu, for his comments which he claimed had been twisted out of context .
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