Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) should be allowed to complete its investigation into law professor Abdul Aziz Bari without the public pre-empting the university's action, says Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

najib "The investigation will find out what he (Aziz) meant, so stop pre-empting," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this evening.

Najib ( right ) was responding to Aziz’ suspension of over his comments made regarding the Selangor sultan's decree on the Jais raid on a church in Petaling Jaya.

However, the prime minister added, the notion that Aziz has been suspended from his work duties was a "misunderstanding".

"As I understand, it is not a suspension, it is a suspension for investigation, not a suspension of work duties. The suspension of work duties will depend on the answer he gives.

"According to the university, the UIA rector has informed me yesterday, it is at the investigation stage and time is given to him to answer but it is not a suspension of work duties, this is a misunderstanding."

NONE The PM’s explanation appeared to parrot UIA rector Zaleha Kamarudin’s statements to the media, stating that Aziz's suspension was only for seven days while he replies to a show cause letter issued to him.

Najib's position also runs contrary to his Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah , who yesterday had advised the university to withdraw its suspension of Aziz following a protest by undergraduates against the university's move.

In an immediate response to Najib's remarks, however, Aziz reiterated that he was suspended from his duties indefinitely.

“Whatever the PM said, the letter from the university said I cannot enter the premises without the law dean's permission,” he told Malaysiakini in an e-mail this evening.

"Whatever the PM and rector have to say, the net effect of the letter is that I can't do my routines such as conducting lectures and tutorials, meeting students, using the library (and also the toilets and other facilities).

"Both the PM and rector have added the confusion," he added.

- With additional reporting by Hazlan Zakaria