SHAH ALAM— Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today she was preoccupied with her husband’s health and unaware that police had arrested lawyer Siti Kasim after breaking in to her home late last night.
Subsequently, the deputy prime minister said she would leave the matter to the police.
“I’m sorry, please inform me… I didn’t follow [the news],” she told reporters at the Selangor Hari Raya Open house celebration here.
“I was so busy with my husband that I could not follow the news,” she said, referring to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was warded due to a severe prolapsed disc.
Siti was arrested over claims that she had obstructed a public servant from carrying out his duties and for kidnapping a 24-year-old client named Anis Nur Izzaty Ruslan — who had sought shelter at her home.
The police were, however, denied a remand order by the Kajang Magistrates’ Court this morning to keep Siti in custody.
Cops to continue probing Siti Kasim despite release
KAJANG— The police said today they will continue to investigate lawyer Siti Kasim for allegedly obstructing a public servant from discharging his public duties, despite the Magistrates’ Court dismissing their remand application and her subsequent release.
Kajang police chief ACP Ahmad Dzaffir Mohd Yussof said they expect the investigation paper under Section 186 of the Penal Code to be submitted to the deputy public prosecutor at a later date.
“We were investigating a police report lodged on June 21, under Section 363 of the Penal Code, where in a 24-year old Malay woman was abducted from Kajang Hospital while in police custody,” he said during a press conference.
Section 363 handles the punishment for kidnapping any person from “lawful guardianship”.
Ahmad said the police conducted a raid on an address in Kuala Lumpur last night following the report, in order to “rescue” the woman and bring her to the Kajang police district headquarters.
“At around 11pm, Siti Kasim was present at the headquarters, where she was informed about the rationale behind the raid and arrest.
“It was decided this morning to apply for a remand extension so as to facilitate investigations. However, at noon today, the court dismissed our application, leading to her release,” he said.
Siti was detained at 12.40am today under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant after the police took her client Anis Nur Izzaty Ruslan into custody.
The police had earlier broken into Siti’s home, where she was allegedly sheltering her client from the latter’s allegedly abusive mother.
According to Sisters in Islam (SIS) programme manager Shareena Sheriff, Anis left her home in Putrajaya last January, where she was living with her mother.
After living in a shelter for a month, Anis managed to find a job in a legal firm and moved out of the shelter to live on her own.
However, her mother had lodged police reports and told Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) that she was mentally unstable and that her faith was in question.
– Malay mail
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