The appointment of former inspector-general of police Tun Mohamad Hanif
Omar to head of the independent panel to probe incidents of violence
during the Bersih 3.0 rally has raised deep public concerns that the
investigation will either be a whitewash of police brutality on peaceful
demonstrators, a massive cover-up of the sufferings of the victims or a
pretext to justify BN’s wild lies that Bersih 3.0 was a coup d'état
attempt.
Hanif, who is now Genting Malaysia Bhd Deputy Chair, had claimed that
communist sympathizers were involved in the Bersih 3.0 rally, and
supported Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's claim that the Bersih 3.0
rally was an attempt to overthrow the government. Hanif further stated
that the tactics of using provocateurs to cause the demonstrators to
clash with police and to bring children along in the hope they would get
injured were tactics learnt from past pro-communist demonstrations.
Najib is clearly desperate
How can Datuk Seri Najib Razak consider Hanif as a “credible,
experienced and respectable” individual that ensures its investigation
panel is independent and unbiased, when Hanif has adopted such a
prejudiced and partisan stand against the Bersih 3.0 rally as an attempt
to overthrow the government?
What makes those claims of a coup d’tat by Najib and Hanif most
ridiculous is that both of them ignored the fact that six local pressmen
and about 12 photographers and journalists from the foreign media were
reportedly assaulted during the fracas on April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally by
police.
To add insult to injury, Hanif is now heading the investigation panel
raising doubts about the integrity, reliability and credibility of its
findings. As a former Inspector-General of Police, Hanif is first and
foremost disqualified from serving on the investigation panel due to
this conflict of interest as the police is being accused. Secondly, by
publicly condemning Bersih, Hanif’s prejudiced bias would also
disqualify him to serve on the investigation panel. Finally, by linking
Bersih to communism, Hanif is still fighting yesterday’s long-concluded
wars, making the outcome of these investigations a foregone conclusion.
For these reasons, the Prime Minister should try to salvage or restore
some credibility and public confidence as well as renew faith that
“justice will not only be done but be seen to be done” by replacing
Hanif with an independent, apolitical, unbiased and an upright person of
integrity.
Lim Guan Eng is the DAP secretary general and Penang Chief Minister
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