KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 ― PKR deputy president Azmin Ali challenged political foe Umno to take him on directly and to leave his family out of their disagreements, even as his teen son was called for questioning by the police today.
Azmin who is also Selangor mentri besar suggested the ruling Malay party was exerting its power by getting the police to question his wife and 15-year-old son Mohamed Basheer Noor Alhaq, after being spotted in the mammoth Bersih 4 rally last August.
“I ask Umno not to disturb my family and my son. They should face me directly and not use my son. I challenge Umno to face me,” he told reporters outside the Dang Wangi district police headquarters here.
“There were more than 500,000 people gathered at Dataran Merdeka. Why did they only target my son and my wife?”
He was accompanying his family for their interview with the police, and claimed the questioning was a sign that Umno was resorting to “desperate” measures to keep its hold on power.
“This is a sign that Umno was desperate and we will continue our efforts to fight the cruelty that's going on in Umno,” he said.
Latheefa Koya, the lawyer representing Basheer, said the teen and his mother were both being investigated under Section 4(2)f of the Peaceful Assembly Act that criminalises the act of bringing a minor to protests.
She insisted that Basheer’s attendance at the rally was not illegal according to the rights guaranteed under the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Malaysia ratified in 1995.
“Basheer has got every right to assemble in a peaceful assembly because we have ratified, we are one of the countries that have ratified the CRC and there is no reservation to that right to the government,” she said after the duo gave their statements to the police, adding that Section 4 of the PAA contravened the CRC.
She also deemed the investigation as a “waste of time and resources” as there were far more important criminal cases that the police could pursue instead of targeting those who express views in opposition to the government.
Latheefa also said that Basheer was asked five questions such as whether he attended the August 30 Bersih 4 rally, who had brought him to the rally and why he had worn the Bersih 4 T-shirt, which was declared illegal just days before the rally.
Azmin’s wife, Shamsidar Taharin, was similarly quizzed on her involvement in the rally.
Mohd Razlan Jalaludin, the lawyer representing Shamsidar, said she exercised her right not to answer certain questions about her involvement with the rally, but insisted that they fully cooperated with the police.
On September 18, Azmin reportedly had his statement recorded at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters over three matters under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012; allegedly wearing the banned yellow Bersih 4 shirt, allegedly bringing his underaged son to a rally and allegedly calling the Inspector-General of Police “barua” Umno, a Malay word meaning “stooge”.
