Police have literally taken Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's “shoot first” remark to heart, PKR has alleged, pointing out that 10 people have been shot dead since he made the remark,
Vice-president N. Surendran said that since Ahmad Zahid made his shoot first statement on October 4, there had been an increase in the number of fatal police shootings.
"On October 9, three men were shot dead in Sentul. Three more were shot dead in Ipoh on October 10 and four were shot dead in Ampang on October 11," Surendran said in a statement today.
He questioned the sudden and unprecedented increase in fatal shootings, saying it could not be mere coincidence. "The Home Minister is an important position and his statements can be regarded as official Ministry policy by police personnel. They are bound to take his statement as an instruction or an order.
“Did the 10 suspected robbers fall victim to his outrageous and unacceptable shoot first policy?" Surendran questioned. He wondered why not a single one of the 10 who died had been arrested alive.
Surendran said a comparison of fatal shooting statistics between Malaysia and England made poor reading as our country's fatal police shootings were unacceptably high.
"The United Kingdom's Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) revealed that there were only two fatal police shootings in the one year period of 2011/12," Surendran said.
"2012/13, there were no fatal police shootings at all! This is in spite of the fact that there is a population of 63 million in the United Kingdom and guns are more readily available there," he added.
Surendran, the Padang Serai MP, said the fears and concerns of the opposition and the public had been proven right about Ahmad Zahid’s remark.
“Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and his senior officers have been disgracefully defending the minister's statement," Surendran alleged.
”Public safety is now at risk and we call for an immediate stop to the shoot first policy. Both Khalid and Ahmad Zahid must be probed for abetting and conspiracy to murder," Surendran said.
On Friday, Khalid had tweeted an offer to Surendran to accompany a police team in an operation against suspected criminals which carried the risk of a shootout, with the caveat that the MP had to sign an indemnity form.
Although Surendran signalled his willingness to don police armour, fellow party members Nurul Izzah Anwar and Azmin Ali slammed Khalid, calling it an unprofessional offer.
On Sunday, Indonesian daily Kompas slammed Malaysian police as "cowards" in an article centred around four Indonesians who police shot dead in Ampang on Friday.
However, Khalid defended his men by saying police were colour-blind when discharging their duties. He said police did not target individuals based on race, religion or nationality.
"It is not a question of being cowardly, it is a standard practice worldwide in the battle against crime, we only shoot when fired upon by the suspects," Khalid reportedly told Malaysiakini.
The four Indonesians were reported to have been responsible for a string of break-ins involving the homes of VIPs.
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