KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh must lodge police report first before authorities can initiate investigations into the five masked men who had robbed her parents' house, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today.
"Make a report first," the Inspector-General of Police told reporters when asked whether he would take action after being notified by Yeoh on Twitter.
Earlier today, the DAP state lawmaker sought the attention of IGP Khalid on Twitter, informing him that her parents’ house was just robbed.
“5 masked men with parang just robbed my parents' house in USJ. Dad and brother were tied up @KBAB51,” the Selangor state assembly speaker posted on her Twitter account @hannahyeoh.
The tweet was directed to @KBAB51, Khalid’s Twitter account where he had been swiftly issuing warnings and investigation orders.
Unlike other IGPs in the past, Khalid has been an active user of social media; but the action has not always gone down well with some sections of society.
On Wednesday, Khalid had brushed off a campaign to ban him on Twitter, saying 126,000 other police officers would take over policing the social media site in his stead, and the Malaysian police will continue monitoring Twitter and other social networks despite the complaints.
“If there are so many cops monitoring twitter, shouldnt we be able to lodge police reports & get status update on investigations via twitter?” Yeoh had tweeted in response a day later.
Since Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction last month, Khalid and his police force have engaged in an apparent crackdown on dissent by lawyers, politicians and social activist movements.
These include directives to question civil liberties lawyer Michelle Yesudas over a tweet expressing her concerns following rape threats against radio presenter Aisyah Tajuddin, whom Khalid also ordered to be investigated along with other BFM employees over a video on hudud Islamic penal law.
The IGP has also used Twitter to direct investigations under the Sedition Act 1948 against opposition lawmakers Tony Pua and Nga Kor Ming from the DAP as well as PKR’s Rafizi Ramli from PKR
Others targeted over tweets were cartoonist Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, and Lawyers for Liberty director Eric Paulsen.
