Chegubard, Pejuang lawyer claim blocked from seeing balloon vendor

Summary

• Bersatu leader Chegubard and Pejuang lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali claim to have been blocked from visiting balloon vendor Za’imuddin Azlan.

• Chebugard says this is despite being invited to the hospital by the balloon vendor’s Za’imuddin's family.

Bersatu division chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin and Pejuang lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali claimed to have been blocked from visiting balloon vendor Za’imuddin Azlan.

Badrul, who is popularly known as Chegubard (above), said this was despite being invited to the hospital by Za’imuddin’s family.

“When we arrived (at the hospital ward), we were prevented from entering by hospital staff.

“They said the Royal Malaysia Police instructed them so that we were not allowed to visit the victim,” he said in a post on Facebook.

Malaysiakini has contacted the police and the hospital for comment.

Za’imuddin, known as “Abang Belon” on social media, was hospitalised following an altercation with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman on March 28.

In a statement today, Kuala Lumpur mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif said DBKL has put three officers involved in the incident on leave.

She also said City Hall is considering paying for Za’imuddin’s medical treatment.

Meanwhile, Chegubard pointed out that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary Azman Abidin was allowed entry outside of visiting hours.

Chegubard said he and Rafique arrived at 11.30am and were instructed to wait until visiting hours began at 12.30pm. They were then denied entry.

“The parents of the victim invited us to come in. The hospital staff still blocked us.

“In fact, hospital officials called and tried to convince the victim’s mother not to let us see him.

“The victim’s parents were wronged because they wanted their child’s fate to be fought for, but they didn’t dare to fight the hospital as their child needed treatment,” he said.

He added that Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin had a phone call with Za’imuddin’s father.

Chegubard also represented Muhyiddin in the provision of aid to the victim’s family.

Besides that, he derided Umno Youth for “playing up” wanting to bring a legal suit against DBKL over the incident.

“But be sure that they will all negotiate as the DBKL board of advisors is made up of Umno division chiefs and is full of the regime’s political appointments,” he said.

Need for legal action

In a TikTok video posted by PAS mouthpiece Harakah Daily, Rafique said the family wanted to meet with a lawyer over the situation.

“So yesterday I received a phone call. The family wants to meet with a lawyer... to explain everything that has happened and what they should do,” he said.

He emphasised the victim’s right to a lawyer, adding that this was a right guaranteed by Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.

Rafique further affirmed a need for legal action, saying that the authorities had overstepped their legal powers in handling Za’imuddin two days ago.

Altercation

In an earlier statement, DBKL claimed that the altercation began when the unlicensed vendor pushed an enforcement officer and refused to leave despite obstructing traffic.

The City Hall asserted that its personnel were merely trying to “calm and separate the vendor from further assaulting the enforcement officer.”

The incident has sparked widespread criticism of DBKL’s handling of the situation, with voices from both government and opposition parties, along with Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin, calling for accountability.

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