Selangor Umno Youth members involved in the ambush on Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh were questioned today by the special committee that Parliament has set up to investigate the incident.

Selangor Umno Youth Mob Karpal Singh Latt Sharizan Abdullah 050309 03 Azhari Shaari, Latt Sharizan Abdullah (right in photo) , Ungku Md Salleh Jamal and Megat Zulkarnain Omardin are division-level Youth leaders from Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya Utara, Serdang and Gombak respectively.

The session, which began at 1pm, was headed by the House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

The four were not allowed to speak to reporters, but Mukhriz Mahathir (BN-Jerlun) - a member of the Umno Youth exco - said their attendance showed that they are not running away from their responsibility.

“The penalty is now for the committee to determine... but the Umno Youth will speak up if there are certain quarters who make slanderous statements,” he warned.

mukhriz mahathir gaza fund 010208 talking Mukhriz (right) also lauded the committee's willingness to hear out the Youth members and give them a chance to explain their side of the story.

Having viewed video footage of the commotion, Mukhriz said he is of the opinion that their conduct was not excessive, as claimed by opposition MPs.

“They were there coincidently and they demanded an explanation from (Karpal) for making such accusations... if a member of parliament can't answer the questions of the people, who else can?” asked Mukhriz.

“It is right of the people to come to Parliament and meet their representatives to get explanations on the matters that arise.”.

Asked to comment on parliamentary immunity within the Dewan Rakyat, he replied: “I agree that the a MP's immunity should be upheld, but the MP should use it responsibly”.

Trio quit committee

The committee was set up last month after an angry mob stopped Karpal from entering the Parliament building on Feb 26, insisting that he should apologise for accusing Umno Youth of being responsible for a death threat and two live bullets he had received.

violent attack towards dap karpal singh and lim lip eng at parliament 260209 sequence Karpal, the Bukit Gelugor MP, had called on the speaker to issue warrants of arrest under the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 to those involved.

However, the speaker rejected this and instead set up a special bipartisan committee to investigate the incident under Section 80(A) of the Standing Orders.

Karpal was served notice to attend the meeting together with fellow opposition parliamentarians who had come to his assistance - Lim Lip Eng (Segambut-DAP), Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah-DAP), Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang-DAP) and N Gobalakrisnan (Padang Serai-PKR).

However, he and DAP MPs have declined to cooperate with the investigations.

Today’s session also proceeded without opposition MPs Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor), R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) and Kamaruddin Jaafar (PAS-Tumpat) who had quit the committee yesterday.

Their resignations were in protest of the 12-month suspension handed down to Karpal's son and Puchong MP Gobind Singh by the House on Monday.

He had implicated Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. Najib has consistently denied any involvement in the case.