Raise assault case with AG and regent, Hanipa dared

An academic has censured Mohamed Hanipa Maidin for targeting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over the delay in prosecuting the police personnel who assaulted a deaf e-hailing driver.

Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi also challenged the former deputy legal affairs minister to raise the issue with Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh and Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

The professor of architecture said he was surprised that Hanipa (above), a former Amanah MP, had used such language and tone on Anwar and the Amanah leadership.

According to him, the former deputy minister appeared “ungrateful, cynical and rude”.

“I have known Hanipa as a fighter for justice since the days of Reformasi. I challenge him to bring the matter of the deaf driver straight up to the attorney-general.

“Secondly, I challenge Hanipa to question the regent himself concerning why this matter has not been resolved. Why does Hanipa not do so seeing that he seems very courageous?” he said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

The driver, Ong Ing Keong, was assaulted outside a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on May 28 by a police personnel escorting Tunku Ismail.

The regent later said he does not condone illegal actions and urged the police to conduct a thorough investigation.

Why blame Anwar?

Tajuddin said since the investigation papers are with the prosecutors, it is the AG’s call on whether to press charges.

“Why blame and drag Anwar into this matter? If Anwar interferes one way or another that means he has absolute control of the AG which is not proper, or is it?” he added.

Yesterday, Anwar, when questioned on the matter, said that certain cases were time-consuming, prompting Hanipa to offer a cynical riposte that the prime minister perhaps considers the assault to be more complex than the 1MDB scandal.

Prior to this, the former deputy minister, who expressed frustration with the slow progress of the case, said if he were the Amanah president, he would push for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to decide if the party should remain in the coalition government.

Commenting on this, Tajuddin said Hanipa’s remarks were “foolish and undiplomatic”.

He reminded Hanipa that Pakatan Harapan did not win the last general election and the current government was not “created by the charisma of Anwar”.

“In that regard, Anwar does not hold all the cards like (former premier) (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) during his days as the prime minister for BN.

“Hanipa speaks more like a Perikatan Nasional member. Perhaps, he should go to the other side and let us settle this once and for all,” he added.

Apart from Hanipa, Anwar’s response also drew criticism from Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), which is representing Ong, and the Disability Advocacy and Welfare Network (Dawn).

Accusing the prime minister of being evasive, LFL director Zaid Malek said Anwar’s “flippant” response had raised more questions.

On Sept 5, Ong and LFL submitted a memorandum and the dashcam recording of the incident to the Prime Minister’s Office asking for an independent commission of inquiry to be established.

Merely responding to justification

Hanipa, responding to Tajuddin, clarified that he was not playing the “blame game” but merely responding to his “justification” for the delay in dispensing justice for the driver.

“I am deeply concerned that a disabled person is denied justice. That was my sole and primary concern here,” he said.

As for raising the matter with Terrirudin, the former deputy minister said that he did point out in his earlier statement that if he were the AG, he would have prosecuted the case without fear or favour.

“With regard to the Johor regent, he did issue a statement asking for a thorough investigation to be carried out. Thus, what more are we expecting from him?

“Since it was the PM who raised the issue that some cases need time, I was merely responding to such a response from him. Period. In fact, I was not alone in making the rebuttal,” he added.

Hanipa also suggested that Anwar could have been wiser about his response on the matter.

“If I were the PM, I would have responded, ‘sorry guys, on this issue you (the media) should ask the AG why there has been no prosecution so far’.

“Anyway, who am I to teach or tell the PM how to respond to a question by the media,” he added.

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