Kula lodges police report on police action, calls for independent probe

 

Ipoh Barat MP M Kula Segaran says yesterday’s fracas between the police and MPs was shameful.

PETALING JAYA: Former human resources minister M Kula Segaran has lodged a police report for not being allowed into Parliament yesterday.

The report follows those lodged by PKR’s Johor Bahru MP Akmal Nasir and Batu MP P Prabakaran at the Dang Wangi police station yesterday.

Kula, the DAP MP for Ipoh Barat, said the police’s action was misguided and it was wrong for them to block the entrance to Parliament.

“Yesterday, as the nation looked in dismay and the world took notice, police blocked off the roads leading to Parliament,” he said in a statement today.

M Kula Segaran.

“Yet these police officers, when asked, could not even tell us under which provision of the law they were blocking off Parliament. Clearly, these instructions came from someone with a position of power.

“The fracas was shameful as Parliament had not been prorogued, which means we are entitled to go to Parliament and attend to any matters we want to.”

He also questioned the Dewan Rakyat speaker for keeping silent on the matter.

“Where is the speaker, why is he silent? The speaker should at least speak out so that all can hear him.”

Kula said police should not investigate the matter, adding that “they can’t be tasked to investigate their own abuses and mistakes”.

“Surely they cannot be the judge, jury and prosecutor in this matter,” he said.

He urged the government to establish an independent commission to investigate and come up with a White Paper on what went wrong yesterday.

“The call to set up an Independent Police Misconduct Complaints Commission (IPCMC) becomes so vital yet again, as in the present scenario.

“Issues of conflict and self-interest can be arrested. IPCMC will also install a high level of confidence in the police force and bring about more independent and transparent investigations,” he said.

Yesterday, opposition MPs had marched from Dataran Merdeka to Parliament to protest against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Cabinet, calling for their resignation.

But they did not manage to enter the Parliament grounds as FRU personnel blocked the entrance to Jalan Parlimen. - FMT