In the past 20 years or so, when shooting down criminals, the police have maintained that they either fired in self-defence or that the victims refused to surrender and therefore had to be killed. Human rights lawyers, however, think this is not so.

In one case, a 19-year-old unarmed ethnic Tamil college student was brought down by the police in a hail of bullets in Seremban. The incident, which took place about four years ago, was reported in the media as a case where the police fired in self-defence.

But human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar, who is now in detention under the obnoxious ISA law, was able to show reporters the bloodied T-shirt the boy was wearing at the time of his murder. All the bullet marks were on the back of the shirt, which means the lad was running away from the police - not attacking them.

You must not be surprised. The present Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan has admitted under cross-examination by the defence in the infamous Anwar Ibrahim trial a few years ago that he would do what is illegal if ordered so by his boss.

And Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the fearless blogger who is contesting the home minister's order requiring his detention under the ISA, has made allegations in his blog that Musa Hassan had symbiotic links with leaders of the underworld.

Recently, a woman working in a hotel pub made a police report against Jamaluddin Jarjis a Umno politician alleging that he had groped her at her place of work. Now, common sense and a sound system of laws would require that Jamaluddin’s statement be recorded prior to him being investigated for the offence.

But here in Malaysia, a special mollycoddling law applies to Umno politicians. The poor woman after having made the police report had ‘second thoughts’ and she took out a statutory declaration (SD) contra-ing the police report. Never in legal history has this kind of thing happened.

Well-known lawyer Karpal Singh and other legal experts have said that there is no provision in the law whereby a police report may be expunged by a SD. One cannot withdraw a police report and if the woman’s report was false and malicious then she ought to charged in court.

But our police and public prosecutor have not proceeded against either Jamaluddin Jarjis or the unfortunate woman.

Some months ago, Karpal made a police report against Zaki Azmi, the chief justice wherein he accused Zaki of corruption but to date no statement was recorded from him and Zaki has not been investigated.

But quicker than a flash of lightning, the police have acted upon two reports made against Karpal by Umno in that he had committed ‘treason’ against the Sultan of Perak.

The venerable wheelchair bound Karpal was asked to go to the police headquarters to sit through a three-hour long interrogation. Naturally, Karpal is annoyed at the double standards.

Investors and tourists must understand that two kinds of law operate in Malaysia. A harsh, unbending system against the common citizen and a mollycoddling one which applies to Umno leaders and their cronies.

Decent taxpaying citizens will become so frustrated with these double standards that eventually they may take the law into their own hands.