Ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting agreed that a police personnel should withdraw the defamation suit he had filed against teenager Foo Tze Kuan after she reported him for alleged corruption.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said the ministers also decided that threatening or harassing those who lodge reports against police personnel would undermine the government's drive against corruption.

Either Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or his deputy Najib Abdul Razak will meet senior police officers to convey the Cabinet's message, he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby this afternoon.

"The government's effort to fight corruption will be undermined if someone who lodges a report against police personnel is sued. This will stop people from lodging reports about corruption," he said.

Foo had raised her predicament at a meeting with Nazri yesterday in his capacity as head of the parliamentary human rights caucus.

She had lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in June last year after several police personnel had allegedly demanded a bribe of RM300 after stopping her for a traffic offence in Seremban.

One of them was charged in March but acquitted on a technicality last month. However, he had filed a defamation suit against Foo in May. The first hearing scheduled for last week has been postponed to January.

Personal rights?

Nazri also rebutted a statement by Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar this morning that filing a civil suit was a personal right .

"That's not the point. The point is you should not take action against a person who lodges a report with the ACA. Even if it's a civil suit, it will be seen as a real threat ... more so when the decision to file a civil suit is made even before the criminal court decides on the case," he said.

He said the civil suit against Foo went against public interest and would jeopardise public order.

"If everyone who is acquitted in a criminal case files a civil suit against those who lodged police reports against them, there would be no end to the cases. How do you ensure public order?" he asked.

He urged the police to be receptive to complaints against them.

"We entrust the police to take care of our safety. If they take a harsh approach to complaints, people will lose their confidence in the police force. We don't want this to happen," he said.

Nazri also said that, to maintain Malaysia's good relationship with China, the police should not profile Chinese nationals entering the country.

"The cabinet thinks it is important to maintain a relationship with China. So we have to be fair to Chinese women who come to Malaysia," he said, referring to allegations by several Chinese women that they had been abused by Petaling Jaya police.

He said China's ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, Wang Chungui, contacted him yesterday to say China would not blame Malaysia for acting against Chinese nationals who break the law.

"But he requested us not to profile Chinese citizens," Nazri added.