SUCH double standard is seemingly glaring as the fiery UMNO Youth chief Datuk Muhamad Akmal Saleh has offered free legal service to the Gerakan Anti Rumah Anutan Haram (GARAH) rally-goers detained by cops but muted on plunderers of Muslim funds.
His goodwill gesture came about on grounds that the Federal Constitution guarantees the rights peaceful assembly for every Malaysian citizen, hence UMNO Youth has no qualms to assist the arrested protestors who will be charged in court next month.
Apparently, the Kuala Lumpur (KL) police had arrested 19 individuals who turned up for Saturday (Feb 7) evening’s rally in the vicinity of SOGO KL, including controversial Muslim convert preacher Zamri Vinoth in his capacity as the Anti-Illegal Houses of Worship Movement’s coordinator and the rally’s co-organiser Tamim Dahri Abdul Razak.
Both Zamri and Tamim have been remanded for two days yesterday (Feb 8) with the police having opened three investigation papers under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for statements likely to cause public alarm, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Also arrested was constitutional lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla, Bersatu Hulu Langat division information chief Shafiq Abdul Halim and 14 other rally-goers who have since been released on police bail.
“By right, it should be those who encroach the land of others who should be arrested, not those who oppose the encroachment!” Akmal jibed in a TikTok video.
,.. but deafening silence on graft matters
Interestingly, the selective criticism of the self-proclaimed staunch defender of race and religion has been glaring in that he abstains from commenting on instances of corrupt practices committed by his brethren.
The latest is the three-day remand order on an NGO secretary of a Gaza humanitarian mission by the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court on Feb 5 to assist in a probe over allegations of abuse of power and misappropriation of the organisation’s funds amounting to approximately RM4.2 mil.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in a statement revealed that the remand order against the suspect in his 40s was issued by Magistrate Ezrene Zakariah after granting the agency’s application
Initial investigations found that the suspect who is also the owner of a food company is believed to have approved and transferred NGO funds of that amount into the accounts of two other companies for investment purposes where individuals in the management of the organisation are believed to have interests in the companies.
A source said the act was believed to have been committed between 2022 and 2024 with investigation under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009 now focused on embezzlement of public funds as the NGO involved received donations from the public for humanitarian missions.
This is certainly not the first time as Akmal’s deafening silence on two other cases previously had invited shout-outs by detractors. They are:
- The detention of Islamic banking figure Tan Sri Dr Mohd Daud Bakar by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption (MACC) for allegedly defrauding investors of RM300 mil in a ‘high return’ scheme; and
- The remand order on the Environment Department’s (DOE) director-general (DG) and deputy DG to assist a MACC probe into alleged corruption linked to e-waste management.
Well, the Merlimau state assemblyman’s latest selective criticism has not gone unnoticed as evident from comments to this Facebook post by entrepreneur and mindset coach Mencius Koay.
“Right now Akmal sleeping beauty [sic] like nothing happened,” mocked one commenter with a chain effect.
In fact, the Russia-trained medical doctor’s silence is not only deafening but has turned into a joke.
At the end of the day, the generosity of Malaysians has turned out to be a good hunting ground by fraudsters and scammers.
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