Penang-based social reform movement Aliran stated its disappointment today that the police have begun investigations into a malaysiakini report over the spray attack on Dr Mahathir Mohamad on July 28.

The widely publicised incident occurred at Kota Bharu's Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. Kelantan CID chief Shafie Ismail had filed the report with the Kota Bharu police headquarters on July 31, calling for an investigation into malaysiakini news-flash which initially misreported that the police were believed to be involved in the attack.

Aliran president P Ramakrishnan said the call for investigation is ominous, "coming as it does soon the negative ministerial comments about Internet reports - which had the unfortunate effect of curbing the vibrant and bold news coverage of political happenings in the country".

"Is this the forerunner of a crackdown on our democratic space and denial of access to news that the authorities find unpalatable? Are we about to witness the encroachment of oppressive rule in Malaysia?" asked Ramakrishnan.

"But what is remarkable is that the moment the situation became clearer and it was established that the police were in no way involved in the drama, malaysiakini , to their credit, promptly rectify their unfortunate reporting within the space of an hour.

"Clearly, malaysiakini did not wantonly implicate the police. There was no malice of deliberate intention to malign the police. Malaysiakini did not state as a matter of face that the police were involved bur rather merely suggested such a possibility arising from a chaotic situation," he said.

Not payback time, is it?

He said Aliran would like to urge the police to close this "unfortunate episode". "We hope that the people friendly image - mesra - that the police are projecting... prevail in this instance and convince the public that the police have a human face and heart."

A refusal to close the chapter on a amicable note, said Ramakrishnan, "may only reinforce the perception that the police are going after malaysiakini for all their previous courageous reports highlighting the abuse and heavy-handedness of the police".

"People should not conclude that it is payback time against malaysiakini. This will be the inevitable conclusion especially in the light of what Mahathir himself has said. After all, according to the Chinese language-newspaper Sin Chew Daily , Mahathir later said he had initially thought it was police tear gas that struck him," he said.

"Would the police lodge a report against Mahathir and start another investigation in order to appear to be even-handed and convince Malaysians that there are no double standards in their action?" he added.