The insistence by police that parliamentarian N Surendran signs an indemnity letter absolving them of any liability should he be injured in a raid he has been invited to join is akin to police asking for a “blank cheque” on the matter of his safety.

NONE This is “unprecedented”, fellow PKR colleague and lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah ( left ), who is acting on behalf of Surendran, said today, for the police cannot refuse responsibility over the safety of a civilian.

Sivarasa went on to lambast the inspector-general of police (IGP) for the force’s stubbornness on the matter.

“As a government department, it is unacceptable for PDRM to insist on such a demand. It is tantamount to asking for a 'blank cheque' to act recklessly or dangerously in relation to the safety of Surendran.

“On the one hand, the IGP is inviting Surendran for a 'shootout'. On the other hand, he is absolutely refusing to ensure Surendran's safety,” the Subang MP said in a statement.

Surendran, who is Padang Serai MP, had accepted an invitation from IGP Khalid Abu Bakar, extended via Twitter on Oct 11, to join in a police operation.

This came after Surendran criticised the use of excessive force by police in the fatal shootings of several suspected armed criminals.

Surendran was even fitted with police body armour in preparation to join in an operation.

'Offer made to silence Surendran'

However, the invitation from Khalid ( below ) came with 10 conditions, including one requiring Surendran to first sign an indemnity letter.

NONE The letter, which the MP has refused to sign, absolves the police force of responsibility in case of any incident, and bars Surendran from "making any claim whatsoever against the government of Malaysia, the police, the inspector-general of police, or any officer involved in the operation".

In his statement today, Sivarasa claimed that he has since last month exchanged a series of letters with the police force to compel the police to review the conditions.

However, this was refused in the latest letter he received, dated November 19 and signed by CID chief Hadi Ho Abdullah, that Surendran “must agree to this irresponsible and dangerous condition”.

“It is now clear that the IGP has backtracked on his earlier offer to Surendran. The IGP had made the offer in a knee-jerk manner in response to Surendran's criticism of the police 'shoot-to-kill' policy.

“It is clear that the IGP was never serious about the offer, and that the offer was made to intimidate and silence Surendran's legitimate criticism of the conduct of the police,” Sivarasa said, insisting Khalid withdraws the “unethical” condition.