Penang government staff Chan Lilian was subjected to another round of questioning by the police yesterday, who wanted to know what her “private thoughts” were on her controversial twitter message.
In a 90-minute session, Chan (left in photo) was asked several questions which included whether she worked as a blogger; if she had any social media websites like blogs, facebook or twitter accounts.
“Then they asked me to elaborate what my private thoughts were when I tweeted, which got me into trouble, but I told them that I will answer that question in court,” she told reporters after her questioning session with the police ended at about 6pm.
“They also asked me to explain what had been done to us (Christians) when I tweeted: ‘I think all Christians shud march for all the persecution they had done to us and our Lord. Don't you think so? I go sleep now, bye-bye. :)’.
“There seems to be no closure yet to my case, and the police is yet to return my iMac and modem, which I continued to ask them to do,” stressed the former Malaysiakini Citizen Journalist.
Chan is being probed for sedition and illegal assembly since last year, following a police report lodged by Blog House secretary Tony Yew who accused her of urging Christians to participate in the July 9 Bersih rally via a tweet.
Chan, who lamented that the police sessions have been “tiring and exhausting”, faces a jail term of up to three years, a fine of not more than RM5,000 or both, if found guilty.
Denying the charge, Chan said she did not mention anything about Bersih in her message nor had she participated in the coalition for clean and fair elections rally in Kuala Lumpur.
Yew’s report resulted in Chan’s 21-inch iMac and modem being carted away by police last year, and they have yet to return the equipment despite a legal letter issued to the force last month.
The report had also elicited fierce response from Malay rights pressure group Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali who accused Chan in a statement published in Utusan Malaysia of harbouring “ill intentions”.
Her boss, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has described Chan’s situation as a “targeted prosecution against anyone close to me, including my family and staff”.
Meanwhile, Chan said the police had questioned her at the Bahagian Siasatan Wanita and Kanak-Kanak where victims of sexual crimes are usually dealt with.
Chan said she felt “embarrassed and like a criminal” to be subjected to several “interrogating sessions” without any certainty of when the matter would be resolved.
She related rather sadly how her youngest nine-year-old son had asked her before she left for the police station: “Mommy, will you be back?”
“I felt tears in my eyes because I did not know how to answer him. Before arriving at the police station, I wondered if I would be arrested and if so, how am I going to tell my family?” she asked.
Chan, who was questioned at the Penang police headquarters in Dickens Road, was accompanied by a lawyer, who requested anonymity.
When contacted, Investigating Officer ASP Ridzuan Ibrahim declined to comment beyond saying: “I have nothing more to say, hopefully everything will be okay.”
When asked about the closure of the case, Ridzuan merely replieddalam masa terdekat (soon).
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