The police must not forget that they are civil servants and therefore must be 'obedient citizens', according to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Speaking at a dialogue with lawyers in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, the newly-minted de facto law minister said the police should not have objected to the prime minister's call to set-up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

He was responding to a question from Melaka-based lawyer P Nair regarding cases of alleged police abuse.

Nazri said there have been numerous complaints against the police, but the force failed to react to this in a positive manner.

"When we have select committee hearings, they (police) will also send their people to tell their side of the story, (but) why (do) they react negatively?" asked the minister, who is also in charge of parliamentary affairs.

"It's very hard to deal with the police now," he added.

Racial twist

On the same note, he said the issue of police abuse had been 'hijacked' and given a racial twist since most of the complainants were non-Malays.

At this juncture, Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh, who chaired the dialogue, reiterated the council's support for the implementation of the IPCMC.

"The police were given ample room to be heard (during the royal commission's inquiry), and the commission itself consisted of an ex-deputy inspector general-of-police," he said.

The commission was set-up following numerous allegations of police abuse. It was tasked to investigate the cases and provide recommendations on how to improve the police force.

In its report later, the commission made 125 recommendations, including the setting-up of the IPCMC.

Double-standards

In another development, lawyer Andrew Khoo criticised the government for being 'hypocritical' in calling for the closure of US detention camp Guantanamo Bay while the Kamunting Camp in its own backyard continued to operate.

The Kamunting Camp, according to Nazri, was a legal institution under the Internal Security Act (ISA) to house those detained under the security law.

"We can close down Kamunting when the law is repealed," he said.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Ramdas Tikamdas urged the government to heed the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia's (Suhakam) recommendation to subject new bills to public scrutiny.

To this, Nazri said he was of the opinion that a bill could be de-classified from the Official Secrets Act for public scrutiny and feedback only when it was in the drafting stage.

Another lawyer Rajes Patel called for the formation of a law ministry with a minister to look into the related matters.

Nazri had the audience in stitches when he replied: "I cannot pursue this, it is a conflict of interest. People will say 'this fellow was just given a law portfolio and he now wants to be law minister'".

The two-hour dialogue, attended by about 60 lawyers, also heard the often repeated requests to repeal Section 46A of the Legal Profession Act and reduce the one-fifth quorum requirement to allow the Bar to conduct annual general meetings.

Nazri said he would try his best to push for these changes.

Apart from this, the minister also revealed that he would recommend for the government to form a judicial commission to appoint judges.