Country becoming unsafe, even Najib barred from driving himself, says ex-editor

Datuk A. Kadir Jasin laments over the country's security when recently DPP Kevin Morais was found murdered. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, September 18, 2015.

Lamenting that the country was becoming more unsafe, veteran newsman Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said that murder cases such as that of deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Kevin Morais who was abducted in upmarket Bangsar, were becoming common.

Writing in his blog, the former New Straits Times Group editor-in-chief said in the past, these incidences were considered unusual but not anymore, when even a media editor had resorted to carrying a weapon.

He added that people were also running scared and resorting to speak in whispers.

"A beautiful woman and a DPP were sensationally killed.

"A news editor carrying a weapon, the right of reply in a newspaper is no longer practised.

"People are scared, they whisper when they speak," he wrote.

He said that when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister between 1981 and 2003, he would drive himself around the country and enjoyed it.

Kadir added that this was despite the fact that there were threats then in the 1980s when armed communists were still active and the triads was gaining ground.

Kadir said that at present, when Malaysia was touted to be able to achieve high-income status by 2020, the police, however, have advised prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak not to drive himself for security reasons.

"So it's clear that Malaysia is becoming more unsafe or the prime minister is facing such a high level security threat that he was barred from attending the 'Nothing2Hide' forum," Kadir wrote.

In June, Najib was scheduled to attend the highly anticipated “Nothing2Hide” forum organised by non-governmental organisation SukaGuam but backed out on the advice of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar who ordered the forum be cancelled on the grounds of "public order and national harmony".

‎Morais, who was attached to the Attorney-General's Chambers, was reported missing on September 4 after he left his Menara Duta residence for work.

On Wednesday, police confirmed that Morais was murdered after his body were found in a concrete-filled drum in USJ 1, Subang Jaya.‎

A post-mortem was conducted at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and the cause of death is expected to be announced soon.

Police have so far arrested seven men, including a military doctor – a colonel in his 50s – who is attached to the pathology lab at Hospital Angkatan Tentera Tuanku Mizan, and who is the main suspect in Morais's murder.

Morais was the DPP in a 2013 case in which the doctor was charged with corruption.

- TMI