Cops refer probe on PAS rep's false racial claim in royal attack incident to AGC

Police have referred to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) their investigation paper on a PAS assemblyperson’s social media post related to an attempted attack on Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah in August.

In a written parliamentary reply yesterday, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that the police have submitted the investigation paper on Manjoi assemblyperson Hafez Sabri’s claim that the woman involved in the incident was Chinese.

The minister noted that the paper was referred to the AGC on Sept 10 after police recorded statements from several witnesses, with investigations initiated on Sept 1 following a complaint.

“The case is being investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998,” Saifuddin added.

Section 505(b) of the Penal Code covers statements that could cause public fear or alarm, while Section 233 of the CMA deals with misuse of network services.

Saifuddin’s response came in reply to DAP’s Jelutong MP RSN Rayer, who had requested that the home minister state the action taken by the police against Hafez over his online posting.

On Sept 1, the Penang and Negeri Sembilan branches of DAP Youth lodged police reports over the issue and urged authorities to investigate Hafez.

Following this, the MCMC called up the Perak PAS Youth chief to record his statement over the post, which the commission described as false and “racially charged”.

Fit for trial

In response, Hafez claimed that his Facebook post, which identified the race of the suspect in the attack against Sultan Nazrin, was based on “initial information” he had obtained.

Insisting that he had corrected his original post “minutes” after it was published, he asserted that irresponsible parties had circulated screenshots of the earlier version of the post to play up narratives against him.

Hafez’s defence came after Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director M Kumar confirmed that the individual arrested for the attempted attack against the state ruler was a 41-year-old Malay woman.

The woman, Nurhaswani Afni Zorki, was charged on Sept 8 at the Magistrate’s Court in Ipoh with assaulting or using criminal force against the Perak ruler during a National Day parade in Ipoh.

At the time, no plea was recorded as the accused was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation and observation for one month at the Hospital Bahagia Tanjung Rambutan in Ulu Kinta under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

On Oct 8, the deputy public prosecutor told the court that the report from the hospital stated that Nurhaswani was suffering from schizophrenia and was not of sound mind at the time of the incident.

However, she has received treatment and is said to be fit to stand trial.

The court has set Dec 8 for mention of the case and the appointment of counsel.

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