Hamzah admits discussing senior police appointments in audio clip
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin today admitted that the voice in a viral audio clip discussing the selection of a new police chief was his.
The Larut MP told a press conference that it was his voice because he had done nothing wrong...
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin today admitted that the voice in a viral audio clip discussing the selection of a new police chief was his.
The Larut MP told a press conference that it was his voice in the recording and there was nothing wrong with what he had said in it.
“I believe that was really my voice. And I have done nothing wrong. What is the offence here?
“The only offence (with the audio clip) was the person who taped my conversation with someone. That is wrong. What I did was not wrong,” Hamzah said.
He was speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya after handing the letter of appointment to Deputy Inspector-General Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, who will be replacing Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador after the latter's contract ends on May 3.
Recently, an audio clip went viral on social media, containing a discussion believed to be between two persons on key appointments in the police force.
A voice similar to Hamzah’s was heard asking if the person he was talking to would like to promote “our boy” from Ipoh.
“Do you want it if I give our boy... promote him? And he is a Perakian, Ipoh boy. Tuanku would surely like him,” he said.
Hamzah said the recording was made sometime last year.
It could not be ascertained who Hamzah meant by "Ipoh boy" in the conversation, whom he said, "will be very good for us".
The recording did not include the voice or identity of the other person in the conversation, neither did the minister reveal this information.
Besides discussing the selection of the new IGP, the clip also heard Hamzah speaking about an unknown person no longer allowed to decide appointments of Bukit Aman department directors and state police chiefs.
"Of course... that is why I will choose who. I know who Tuanku would be okay with and such.
"Now we want to decide on directors. Because I have taken over, I told him that you cannot have choices. You can give names, let's say five people, let me know and we will decide.
"It is not for you to decide anymore like before. All state police chiefs you cannot decide," Hamzah said in the clip.
It is believed that he was referring to Abdul Hamid, who was appointed as the IGP in 2019 on a two-year contract.
During the press conference, the minister said that it was not wrong for him to tell Abdul Hamid to submit names to Tuanku, referring to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
"I am the chairperson of the Police Commission. I want to inform you that in the Constitution, the chairperson of the Police Commission is the highest position to determine assignments for police officers.
"So what is the problem here? It might be an issue if I was telling people (in the recording) to do something outside my purview," Hamzah stressed.
No police report
Hamzah was pressed by the media on whether he would be lodging a police report regarding the tapping of his conversation.
He pointed out that it was not necessary as he had said nothing wrong in the conversation.
Hamzah added that as the home minister, he also has several options to look into the matter rather than reporting it to the police.
"I am the home minister. So I can do this in several other ways. The question is who taped the conversation. We want to know that first.
"No point for us to lodge a report," he said.
The Bersatu secretary-general also took the opportunity to take a swipe at PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who were recently caught in a similar situation.
An audio clip purportedly of a phone conversation between Anwar and Zahid had gone viral, where a voice resembling Anwar's was heard praising Zahid's policy speech at the Umno general assembly last month.
"There is no such thing as it sounded like my voice. I admit that it is mine. But sometimes I am baffled on how some people decline to admit this despite there was an audio clip (of their conversation)," Hamzah added.
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