SNAPSHOT | Group urges police to release Azam protesters, cites free speech

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm, and 9pm.

9pm

Civil rights

• The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall’s youth section and civil rights committee have urged the police to release those detained for allegedly disrupting MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s speech earlier today.

  They called on the government to defend the fundamental right to speak up and express dissent.

  “We maintain that in a democratic society, peaceful protest is a common and legitimate means of expressing dissent,” they said.

  

  They also expressed solidarity with the activists, saying that the government’s sluggish and evasive approach to the corporate mafia issue has fuelled outrage.

  “It is this very inaction that precipitated today’s protest. Had the government conducted a transparent investigation and disclosed the truth to the public, citizens would not have been driven to protest on site.”

READ MORE: Three arrested for heckling, waving anti-Azam placards during MACC chief's speech

6pm

Court

• The High Court heard testimony from Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad on the first day of his defamation suit against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

  Dzulkefly alleged that Najib published a defamatory Facebook post on Aug 24, 2020, accompanied by a screenshot of a Sinar Harian article dated Jan 28, 2019, featuring a photograph of the minister.

  

  The post, reportedly edited six times, allegedly implied that Dzulkefly had used his position and influence as health minister to secure his daughter’s appointments.

  Dzulkefly argued that the appointment of his eldest daughter, Nurul Iman, as a non-executive director of information technology company, AIM Solutions Group Berhad, had no connection whatsoever to cronyism or nepotism.

  He stressed that the appointment was made before the 14th general election (GE14), and before he himself was appointed minister in July 2018.

Lynas

• The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (Mapim) highlighted reports of Lynas Corporation’s links to the US defence industry, pointing to the use of rare earth elements in advanced weapons systems.

  Stressing Malaysia’s inability to ignore the implications of such connections, Mapim president Azmi Abdul Hamid urged Putrajaya to conduct an immediate audit of Lynas’ operations and export channels.

  

  In a statement on Saturday (April 4), he also urged the government to suspend any supplies linked to military end use and establish strict controls over the export of strategic minerals.

  “If materials processed on Malaysian soil are feeding into military systems used in conflicts that violate international law, Malaysia risks indirect complicity. This is a moral and strategic red line,” he stressed.

  He further urged Lynas to disclose the end users of its processed materials, its degree of involvement with defence contractors, and existing mechanisms to prevent misuse of its products.

Energy crisis

• Six remaining Malaysian vessels in the Persian Gulf will leave “one-by-one”, Iran’s Ambassador to Malaysia Valiollah Mohammadi Nasrabadi reportedly told Bernama.

  The report comes after the oil tanker Ocean Thunder, which was chartered by Petronas, passed through the Straits of Hormuz on Sunday evening after loading up on about one million barrels of Basrah Heavy Crude on March 2. It is now en route to reach Pengerang, Johor, in mid-April.

  

  It was among seven Malaysian vessels that had been cleared by Iran to pass through the straits.

  Transit through the crucial waterway became severely restricted following conflict in West Asia. The UN said on March 31 that about 2,000 vessels and 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Persian Gulf.

• Malaysia expects to see some price disruptions in its energy markets, but there should be sufficient supply at least until June this year.

  Bernama quoted Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attributing the supply stability to Petronas’ strong track record and global network, including partnerships with major oil-producing countries.

  

  Malaysia also benefits from its massive production capacity for liquified natural gas, he said, which is complemented by imports from Australia and Petronas operations in Canada.

Animal abuse

• A 49-year-old convicted of cruelty to animals has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment after failing to pay a RM60,000 fine.

  According to Bernama, Toh Teck Hooi, who was unrepresented, pleaded guilty to the charge at the Kajang Sessions Court. The charge was framed under Section 29(1)(a) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015.

  

  He was accused of repeatedly throwing a black male kitten against a wall and a mattress at a self-service laundromat in Taman Kajang Prima between 3am and 4am on April 2.

  He reportedly recorded a video of the incident and uploaded on the internet, where it went viral.

Space

• The Artemis II mission to the moon reached 406,764.9km from Earth yesterday - the furthest of any crewed spacecraft, Deutsche Welle reported.

  It surpasses the previous record of 400,171.4km set by the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970.

  

  The mission’s Orion capsule carries four crew members, who are performing a fly-by on the far side of the moon before returning to Earth, where they would make a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 11.

  The US’ Artemis moon exploration programme aims to eventually establish a permanent base on the moon in the 2030’s.

2pm

Politics

• Selangor PAS Youth has urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to immediately suspend Human Resources Minister R Ramanan from his official duties after the latter was implicated in an alleged corruption scandal involving businessperson Victor Chin. 

  In a statement today, Selangor PAS Youth chief Sukri Omar also called on the MACC to investigate Chin’s claims that a PKR lawmaker had solicited RM10 million to resolve the businessperson’s woes with the “corporate mafia.” 

  

  On March 27, MACC said it has yet to receive a report on allegations that a PKR MP had solicited money from Chin. However, probes into the “corporate mafia” scandal are believed to be ongoing.

  Ramanan had also dismissed the allegations, insisting he had never met Chin.

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  READ MORE: Rafizi identifies Mr R, implicates PM's ex-aide in 'corporate mafia'

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• Former PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli claimed that party president Anwar Ibrahim had begged him, teary-eyed, to agree to allow Ramanan to contest as a candidate in the 15th general election.

  

  Rafizi said he had told Anwar that it was ultimately the PKR president’s decision, but that he had asked Anwar to promise not to appoint Ramanan to any positions in the party or government.

  The Pandan MP claimed Anwar had agreed to this, and that there was a witness to the conversation. Ramanan is now an elected PKR vice-president and the human resources minister.

Business

• In a separate statement, Sukri also called on the Selangor government to reduce rental rates for hawkers, stalls, kiosks, and small business premises owned by local authorities such as the Selangor State Development Corporation. 

  He asserted that he had heard the grievances of various small traders who are feeling pressured due to narrow profit margins, as consumers opt to spend less while rental rates remain burdensome.

  

  As such, he argued that lowering rental rates by at least 20 to 50 percent for such businesses would be a “realistic, humane, and much-needed step.”

Penang quit rent

• Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has urged land owners to file appeals on their quit rent before the April 30 deadline.

  He highlighted that the RM50 appeal fee has been abolished, and in one example, the landowner of an 11.95ha paddy field in Seberang Prai Utara - who was originally charged RM112 in quit rent - managed to get the amount for the new rate reduced from RM334,544 to RM180.

  

  Lim’s statement came after the state government under Chow Kon Yeow agreed on April 1 to revise its controversial plan to increase the quit rent in the state, which initially led to a sharp increase for many owners of old land titles.

  He said Chow confirmed to him yesterday that for residential and commercial properties primarily used as residences, the rate has been reduced from RM3.25 to 70 sen per square metre within city limits and RM2.80 to 50 sen per metre in the countryside.

  Vacant land without structures will be charged the “agricultural (other)” rate of RM25 per hectare, he said.

9am

Fuel crisis

• Iran’s embassy in Malaysia has revealed that only one Malaysian ship has passed through the Strait of Hormuz so far.

  “We had said that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not forget its friends. The first Malaysian ship passed through the Strait of Hormuz,” it said on social media yesterday.

  This is believed to refer to an oil tanker chartered by a Petronas subsidiary and loaded with about one million barrels of Iraqi crude oil.

  

  This means another six Malaysian vessels have yet to pass through the strait. Putrajaya first revealed it had secured safe passage for these ships on March 27.

Business

• Sunway Bhd’s proposed takeover of IJM Corp Bhd lapsed on Monday after failing a condition to secure more than 50 percent of shares.

  At the time the bid ended, Sunway had just over 33 percent of shares. Those shares will now be returned to the original shareholders.

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Rafizi identifies Mr R, implicates PM's ex-aide in 'corporate mafia'

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