Kelantan prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra has filed a RM150 million suit against the inspector-general of police and three others for wrongful confinement.

Fakhry named IGP Ismail Omar, ASP Norazman Ismail, former Kelantan police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi and the Royal Malaysia Police as defendants.

He filed the suit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today through the law firm of AS Dhaliwal and Co.

Speaking to reporters later, Tengku Fakhry said he was not motivated by monetary reasons but by justice.

"I think this is the first time that a member of the royal family has named its own state police chief as a defendant," he said.

NONE In the suit, Fakhry said between 4pm and 6pm on Aug 30, 2009, he was at Istana Mahkota Kubang Kerian, the official residence of his father, the then state ruler Sultan Ismail, to pick up and drive a Bentley Brooklands with the licence plate DBG 1 to Singapore.

The sultan, he claimed, was in Singapore. He and his lawyer Mohd Haaziq Pillay drove the car but was stopped by police, who were in a SUV Volvo, and the other police personnel then closed the gate.

Following that, Fakhry stated, he could not go to Singapore.

The prince also said about 20 to 30 people were outside the gates of Istana Mahkota to prevent him from leaving the palace.

   

Fakhry claimed that the Kelantan police chief ordered police personnel not to allow him to leave the palace.

“All in the material time, the defendants had wrongfully confined me and prevented my car from leaving the premises. They were also armed and this was with the intention to scare and prevent me from leaving by closing the gates,” he states.

“There were no reasons given on why I was unlawfully confined and prevented from continuing on with my journey.”

Fakhry claimed that as the palace and its grounds were the private residence of the sultan, hence the police should not have access without permission from the sultan.

No orders from the sultan

The prince said there were no orders from his father or his mother, the Raja Perempuan, to prevent the car from leaving the palace.

NONE He claimed that as a result of  wrongful detention, he was denied his rights and could not fulfil the directives of the then sultan to drive the car to Singapore.

Fakhry said the wrongful confinement was without justification and mala fide (bad intention) and also exposed him to possible accident by prohibiting his movement.

The prince claimed that the police abused their powers and without arbitration, as the job should have been carried out by officers of the palace

He claimed the confinement was wrong in law and unconstitutional.

He is seeking RM100 million in general damages and RM50 million in aggravated damages.

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