Khairuddin to challenge police remand order, says lawyer

Sacked Umno leader Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan will likely challenge the six-day remand order obtained by the police to investigate him for attempting to topple Putrajaya. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 20, 2015. 

Sacked Umno leader Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan will likely challenge a six-day remand order obtained by police to investigate him for attempting to topple the government, says his counsel Matthias Chang.

"We are looking into filing the application tomorrow in the High Court as the remand has no basis," Chang told The Malaysian Insider today.

Yesterday, a magistrate allowed police to hold Khairuddin in custody until Thursday.

Chang said the long remand was a sort of punishment for his client for handing over evidence related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal to investigators overseas.

"This is also to intimidate others from emulating Khairuddin," he added.

He said police were investigating The Edge's Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat under Section 124 of the Penal Code for activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy but no arrest was made.

"Khairuddin had given an undertaking to police to present himself on Monday over the allegation but he was picked from his home on Friday evening," he said.

Khairuddin was supposed to leave for the United States on Friday morning together with Chang but both were stopped from leaving the country by immigration officials at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Khairuddin,  who was dismissed from the party after he was declared a bankrupt, said in his Facebook posting on Friday that police wanted to question him for handing in evidence related to the 1MDB scandal to the Swiss attorney-general's chambers.

Khairuddin handed the evidence to the Swiss authority on August 20, and urged it to investigate the debt-laden state investment arm's activities involving Swiss and international banks.

He insisted that he had only acted in the country's best interests, and that he had the locus standi to lodge a report with Swiss authorities.

But, Putrajaya accused Khairuddin of lodging "false and politically motivated police reports" and pushing the same agenda as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been incessantly calling for Najib's resignation.

- TMI