Former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman said a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is not necessary to look into the Memali incident but that the police should step forward and reveal exactly what happened 33 years ago.
"Why (do we) want to have all these RCIs when it happened years ago; it's all history," Abu Talib said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur today.
He was the attorney-general at the time of the 1985 incident.
Abu Talib also said he believes the police should be the ones to answer for the incident as they were the ones on the ground at that time besides being the ones who had taken action.
"If anyone knows more, it's the police on the ground. Why is the inspector-general of police so quiet about it? They should come out and tell the truth.
"Why don't the police come out and tell what happened on the ground that day? They know the whole story."
Agreeing that those responsible for the incident should be brought to justice, Abu Talib said he believes the police should open an investigation paper into the matter.
"They handled the situation. Why politicise the thing now [...] we want peace in the country. We have law and order, we are all equal before the law," he added.
image: https://i.malaysiakini.com/1143/e664df77c2effcda609ca4703bd3ceef.jpeg
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last year said the government did not discount the possibility of setting up an RCI for the Memali incident to uncover the truth.
PAS had continuously called on the government to set up an RCI to probe the tragedy in Memali, Kedah which saw four police officers and 14 villagers killed during a police raid on their hideout.
The police had stormed the commune in order to arrest the leader identified as Ibrahim Libya on charges of deviant Islamic teachings and leading a cult. He was killed in the subsequent shootout.
Critics have said that the bloodshed was a result of police brutality. Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, however, insisted that police were only defending themselves after being attacked by the villagers
- Mkini
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