PAS can face legal action for claiming Sauk a sandiwara: MP

comments     Michelle Lee     Published     Updated

The government today reiterated that legal action can be taken against PAS for alleging that the arms heist and the following stand-off between security forces and members of the Al-Maunah cult group in Sauk, Perak was a " sandiwara " (charade).

Parliamentary Secretary in the Prime Minister's Department Noh Omar who said this, also told Parliament that PAS had a hidden agenda for making the claim.

He was responding to Wira Abu Seman's (BN-Alor Gajah) question if the opposition party's allegation was tantamount to contempt of court.

Noh also said, "Such accusations will eventually cause society to lose respect for our institutions, such as the police, and must not be viewed lightly."

He added all actions taken by the government pertaining to the incident were done according to law.

At this juncture, Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi (PAS-Kuala Terengganu) said the party was in no way opposing the court's decision on Sauk.

"However, there are still some unanswered questions, and the public deserves to know what happened in Sauk," said Syed Azman.

Weapons heist

On July 2, 2000, Al-Ma'unah members, led by former soldier Mohd Amin Mohd Razali escaped with a cache of weapons from a military outpost and a military camp by duping those on duty that they were there to conduct an arms inspection.

The group then took several hostages and holed up for four days in Bukit Jenalik, Sauk before finally surrendering to security forces. However, they brutally murdered two of the hostages - a soldier and a police personnel.

Twenty nine Al-Maunah members were later charged for waging war against the king and were subsequently found guilty. However, sentences varied ranging from death by hanging to 10-year jail terms.

PAS had claimed from the onset that the incident was staged by the government in order to clampdown on the opposition party as the Al-Maunah leader, Mohd Amin, was a PAS member.

Last month, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim also warned PAS leaders not to make such allegations or face legal action.

Discriminatory act

In an unrelated matter, Dr Abu Bakar Othman (PAS-Jerlun) asked if the government would be amending the Official Secrets Act (OSA) on the basis that the Act was discriminatory and covered up abuses of power by government ministers and leaders.

Noh replied that the government had no such intentions.

"It is not discriminatory...as a matter of fact, the PAS-run Terengganu state government themselves use the OSA to protect their own secrets.

"At the end of the day, the opposition just makes a lot of allegations which it cannot prove," he said.



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