PETALING JAYA: Lawyers for Liberty director Eric Paulsen has warned of far-reaching implications of the police’s decision to investigate lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan, who is to stand as a witness in a defamation case in Britain.
Paulsen told FMT the investigation, prompted by police reports lodged in Malaysia based on a statement of defence in the case, would pave the way for others to make reports on cases heard in local courts.
“What is to stop people from lodging police reports on ongoing court cases in Malaysia? Will the police start then investigating all litigants and witnesses?”
He urged the police to ensure that the reports against Ambiga were credible and there was sound legal reason for an investigation before calling “all and sundry” for questioning.
Paulsen was commenting on Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun’s justification for probing Ambiga over a statement that Sarawak Report (SR) editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown filed in the London High Court in her defence against a defamation suit brought by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. It has been reported that the statement cited Ambiga as the source behind SR’s article on an alleged payment of RM90 million to PAS.
Fuzi said yesterday that police needed to investigate the matter because two police reports had been made against Ambiga.
Paulsen said it was clear that the statement attributed to Ambiga was made by someone else.
“So why is she being investigated?” he asked. “If on a preliminary investigation there is no crime, as in this particular case, why inconvenience innocent people?”
He also questioned whether Malaysian police had considered the likelihood that they had no jurisdiction in the matter.
He said Fuzi should focus on depoliticising the police force and investigating real crimes rather than “going through the motions” of defending moves to investigate allegations that were “clearly politically motivated”.
In a tweet yesterday, former law minister Zaid Ibrahim questioned whether it was proper to investigate someone named as a witness in a civil case.
“The minister may want it, but the police make their own decisions. That is what you call professional,” said Zaid, who is now a DAP member.
Also yesterday, Ambiga, a former Malaysian Bar Council president, said she was puzzled as to why a criminal investigation had been initiated on her.
The SR article, which appeared in August last year, said RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Hadi filed his suit in April. -FMT
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