Prof Aziz Bari receives bullet in the mail

Law professor Abdul Aziz Bari today received a bullet in the mail at his house in Gombak, believed to be related to his comments relating to the Selangor sultan’s decree on the church raid in August.

According to Abdul Aziz (left), along with the bullet was a letter that read: "Jangan kurang ajar dengan sultan maut nanti" (Don’t cause mischief with the sultan, you may meet your death).

The items arrived in an ordinary brown envelope via the postman’s morning delivery at 11.45am.

“At the time I was about to leave home to head north for a forum with (PAS deputy chief) Mohamad Sabu in Bagan Serai,” the professor told Malaysiakini when contacted this afternoon.

Abdul Aziz said he has not yet lodged a police report as he was in a hurry, but that he will do so latest by tomorrow.

He said he was unsure of the type of bullet, only saying that it was small.

When asked if the threat worried or scared him, the Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) professor said he had never received written threats such as this, except for the time he criticised PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang during the party’s 2009 muktamar.

“I am okay. I have not been rude to the sultan. I did not call him ‘natang’, that’s a far cry indeed. I only spoke about the exercise of power,” said Abdul Aziz.

He was referring to an incident in March 2008 where supporters of former Terengganu MB Idris Jusoh protested at the menteri besar's residence holding up banners that read, “Kami nak Idris, natang” (We want Idris, you animal).

‘Natang’ in Terengganu dialect means 'animal'.

Plot to thicken?

Abdul Aziz’ troubles started when he commented in Malaysiakini that the Selangor sultan's decree on the outcome of the Selangor religious authority’s raid on the DUMC church in Petaling Jaya was “unconventional and inconsistent”.

Acting on a police report that Senator Ezam Mohd Noor had lodged on Oct 13 against the professor and Malaysiakini, police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) beganinvestigations on the two parties.

Shortly after, the UIA issued Abdul Aziz a show cause letter and suspended the professor.

After overwhelming support and protests from students and fellow academics, NOGs, opposition leaders as well as Deputy Minister of Higher Education Saifuddin Abdullah, the university lifted the suspension on Oct 24.

However, the professor said he believes that he has not heard the last about the issue and that worse is expected.