‘Superman’ Hew called for a second round of questioning at Bukit Aman

Former DAP firebrand Hew Kuan Yew says he has temporarily suspended his Facebook account to avoid his supporters clashing with his critics.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former DAP firebrand Hew Kuan Yew has been asked to produce various documents, such as his academic certificates, during a second round of questioning at Bukit Aman for a probe into his controversial pro-China comic book.

He arrived at Bukit Aman police headquarters at 1.55pm and was questioned for three hours. He was earlier called to give his statement last Friday.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference after giving his statement, Hew said the police had also asked for e-mail and other correspondence with the cartoonist, called Tomato, and also the printing company.

Hew recently came under scrutiny over his 164-page comic book, titled “Belt and Road Initiative for Win Winism”. This followed news that 2,500 copies of the Bahasa Malaysia version of the book had been distributed to school libraries as reference material.

This evening, the home ministry announced it had banned the comic book on grounds that it was promoting communism and socialism.

This evening, Hew said his Facebook account has been deactivated temporarily until further notice, after advice from his Facebook administrators.

“There were many people who are against my Facebook posts and making harsh comments. My supporters are rebutting them in a harsh manner. I don’t want my Facebook to become a place for them to clash.”

When asked if there was an insider within the education ministry who had permitted the distribution of his comic book in secondary and vernacular schools, he said: “Let the police investigate.”

Hew was accompanied by his lawyer, Rajsurian Pillai, who said three other witnesses were also summoned to assist in investigations — the cartoonist, the manager of the Asia Comic Cultural Museum, Raymond Koh, and also the printer, only identified as Mr Fong.

Rajsurian said, the investigating officer, identified only as Inspector Shahril, had also asked about the roles and backgrounds of the other witnesses in the production of the comic book.

“No arrests have been made so far. The police were very polite. We told them we will be giving the documents. So far, we do not know if there will be anything else (any other questioning) after this.”

He said police did not inform them who the complainant was, except that it was an individual from Kedah.

Previously, Hew had said his comic book had become an issue in view of the upcoming Tanjung Piai by-election, alleging that the government wanted to win the support of the Malay voters.

Today, the director of the Criminal Investigation Department at Bukit Aman, Huzir Mohamed, said more individuals were expected to be called in for questioning.

Huzir said police were also working with historians to check the accuracy of historical facts in the book.

All three versions of the work – in Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and English – have been seized. - FMT