RPK yet to give statement to police
April 24, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 Raja Petra Kamarudin has yet to give a statement to Malaysian police in Bangkok following a dispute over the purpose of the police investigation, his lawyer said today.The Malaysia Today news portal editor was asked to give a statement during his visit to the Thai capital yesterday but he balked when police wanted to record the matter under Section 203 of the Criminal Procedure Code which relates to making a false statement.No statement given to police last night, his lawyer Haris Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider by text message.Raja Petra (picture) is the chairman of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) while Haris is the president. Both were in Bangkok to launch the Thai chapter of the movement that seeks to put better parliamentary candidates.The latest update in the Malaysia Today website reported that police wanted to get Raja Petras statement over his TV3 interview in Perth, Australia. A police report was recently made against Raja Petra alleging that he lied in his TV3 interview, said the update.It added that Haris and another lawyer, Amarjit Sidhu, had asked for a copy of the report and had wanted to know the reasons for the statement over the TV3 interview and not for the bloggers June 18, 2008 statutory declaration.The police then said that Haris and Amarjit would have to go to the embassy to see a copy of that police report. Haris and Amarjit agreed to follow the police to the embassy but insisted that Raja Petra remains at the hotel.It is currently a stalemate and no decision has been made yet whether Raja Petra will consent to his statement being recorded even if is done outside the embassy grounds, the report said.The news portal also said the focus of the police investigation is apparently on the lies in Raja Petras TV3 interview rather than the statutory declaration as initially announced.Deputy Inspector-General o! f Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said last night Raja Petra had agreed to give his statement to two Bukit Aman officers at the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok.The Malaysia Today news portal editor hit the headlines a week ago when Umno-linked TV3 television station ran a series of interviews with him over his statutory declaration that linked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and family to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2007.Najib has denied any links and Raja Petra told TV3 that he never alleged such linkages but asked the police to investigate a military intelligence officers assertion about the case.Raja Petras television interview has launched another police investigation into the sworn statement. Police have questioned several people named by Raja Petra over the allegations.Those named by Raja Petra were Nik Azmi Nik Daud, blogger Din Merican, John Pang and military intelligence officer Lt-Col Azmi Zainal Abidn.The Ministry of Defence has said Azmi has been suspended from duties pending an internal investigation.The blogger slipped out of Malaysia in 2009 and remains in self-exile, mainly in the United Kingdom.
KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 Raja Petra Kamarudin has yet to give a statement to Malaysian police in Bangkok following a dispute over the purpose of the police investigation, his lawyer said today.The Malaysia Today news portal editor was asked to give a statement during his visit to the Thai capital yesterday but he balked when police wanted to record the matter under Section 203 of the Criminal Procedure Code which relates to making a false statement.No statement given to police last night, his lawyer Haris Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider by text message.Raja Petra (picture) is the chairman of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) while Haris is the president. Both were in Bangkok to launch the Thai chapter of the movement that seeks to put better parliamentary candidates.The latest update in the Malaysia Today website reported that police wanted to get Raja Petras statement over his TV3 interview in Perth, Australia. A police report was recently made against Raja Petra alleging that he lied in his TV3 interview, said the update.It added that Haris and another lawyer, Amarjit Sidhu, had asked for a copy of the report and had wanted to know the reasons for the statement over the TV3 interview and not for the bloggers June 18, 2008 statutory declaration.The police then said that Haris and Amarjit would have to go to the embassy to see a copy of that police report. Haris and Amarjit agreed to follow the police to the embassy but insisted that Raja Petra remains at the hotel.It is currently a stalemate and no decision has been made yet whether Raja Petra will consent to his statement being recorded even if is done outside the embassy grounds, the report said.The news portal also said the focus of the police investigation is apparently on the lies in Raja Petras TV3 interview rather than the statutory declaration as initially announced.Deputy Inspector-General o! f Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said last night Raja Petra had agreed to give his statement to two Bukit Aman officers at the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok.The Malaysia Today news portal editor hit the headlines a week ago when Umno-linked TV3 television station ran a series of interviews with him over his statutory declaration that linked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and family to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2007.Najib has denied any links and Raja Petra told TV3 that he never alleged such linkages but asked the police to investigate a military intelligence officers assertion about the case.Raja Petras television interview has launched another police investigation into the sworn statement. Police have questioned several people named by Raja Petra over the allegations.Those named by Raja Petra were Nik Azmi Nik Daud, blogger Din Merican, John Pang and military intelligence officer Lt-Col Azmi Zainal Abidn.The Ministry of Defence has said Azmi has been suspended from duties pending an internal investigation.The blogger slipped out of Malaysia in 2009 and remains in self-exile, mainly in the United Kingdom. 
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