M'sia on the way to becoming a FAILED STATE

Malaysia risks becoming a “failed state” if the police takes a “shoot first” policy in dealing with criminal suspects, former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today as he called for Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who advocated the approach to be replaced.

Zaid, who was the de facto law minister during the Abdullah administration, said a “failed state” is where lawlessness prevails, noting that a “shoot first” approach to law enforcement signals that the authorities themselves are the law, and that there is “no need for investigation and public trial”.

“Zahid Hamidi should be replaced immediately if the PM is to salvage anything left of his administration,” Zaid told The Malay Mail Online via email today, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“Malaysia is on the way to being a failed state. A failed state is when lawlessness prevails,” he added.

Former Malaysian Bar president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan similarly said that Ahmad Zahid was disrespecting the rule of law and the federal constitution that he had swore to uphold as a minister and federal lawmaker.

“This is not a cowboy country. We have the courts for a reason,” Ambiga told The Malay Mail Online today.

“Allowing the police to be judge and executioner is dangerous. Unfortunately, the minister has, in a moment of truth, displayed his prejudices and his lack of respect for due process. His racism and racial profiling are shocking, absolutely shocking,” she added.

On Saturday, Ahmad Zahid reportedly advocated a “shoot first” policy for the police in dealing with suspected gang members in the wake of a violent crime spree that has resulted in Malays making up the majority of the victims.

In his speech at a security briefing event with community leaders in Ayer Keroh, Malacca then, Ahmad Zahid said there was nothing wrong with arresting the over 40,000 known gangsters in the country, half of whom are Indians.

“What is the situation of robbery victims, murder victims during shootings? Most of them are our Malays. Most of them are our race,” he was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini yesterday, based on a 20-minute audio recording of the speech.

“I think the best way is that we no longer compromise with them. There is no need to give them any more warning. If (we) get the evidence, (we) shoot first,” he added, referring to suspected criminals.

The home minister’s remarks come after he recently pushed through in Dewan Rakyat an amendment to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) that allows a suspect to be detained without trial for two years.

Human rights group, Lawyers for Liberty, said yesterday that Ahmad Zahid’s “shoot first” comment confirms suspicions of the unwritten policy operating in the police force.

In a Parliamentary reply to Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng on September 24, Ahmad Zahid said that the police had fatally shot 124 Malaysian criminals from 2009 to this August, of which 56 were Malays while 41 were Indians. Chinese fatalities stood at 23 while the remainder were non-Malay Bumiputeras.

Several controversial police shootings have previously fuelled the public’s demand for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) recommended by the 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry on the police force.

But Putrajaya has refused to implement the IPCMC, pointing to the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to monitor police abuse, despite widespread criticism that the EAIC is toothless.

-http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/