Litigious state exco criticised

The coalition said the court actions taken by Husam, who is also a Pas vice-president, was stifling the voice of democracy.

 

Chairman of Tukar, or Movement To Change the Pas Kelantan Government for the People, Kamarudin Mohd Kasim said Husam’s action was aimed at frightening off the people from bringing up issues against the state.

 

“The legal actions are a cowardly move. It is the right of the people to express dissatisfactions against the state government,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.

 

Husam, on Monday, reportedly said state government-linked Kelantan Golden Trade Sdn Bhd (KGT), which he chaired, would be suing its former executive director Nik Mahani Mohamad and Utusan Malaysia for their statements and reports on its gold dinar and silver dirham coins business.

 

Last week, the High Court here dismissed with costs a RM500,000 defamation suit filed by Husam against blogger Faisal Rohban Ahmad, for a posting on ruangbicarafaisal.blogspot.com on Oct 3, 2009 headlined “Husam dan Tamrin Balun Balak Kelantan RM15 juta” (Husam and Tamrin took Kelantan logs valued at RM15 million).’

 

Kamarudin said the court actions showed that the state government was afraid of the people.

 

Blogger Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz, or better known as Kickdefella, said Husam should advise KGT not to proceed with the lawsuit against the media and individuals as the action was aimed at stopping them from voicing their views.

 

Syed Azidi, who was representing another NGO called Kelantan professionals, said the suit against the media should also be discontinued as the press were just reporting the issue.  

 

Ombak, or Young People Unite Against Corruption, president Wan Khairul Ihsan Wan Muhammad said Husam did not reply to the issues raised by the coalition against KGT at his press conference on Monday.

 

Wan Khairul Ihsan said Husam had instead confused the people by saying that the dinar and dirham were not a currency although the coins had been promoted as syariah currency.

 

“People have bought them (dinar and dirham) as the gold and silver coins have been promoted as syariah currency.

 

“They were later told that it was just gold and silver transactions and that the dinar and dirham coins were nothing more than the jewellery sold at goldsmith shops,” he said.

 

Wan Khairul Ihsan also hoped that the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission would speed up their investigations into the case.

 

Several police reports had been made against KGT and a former senior officer since early this year on various allegations.

 

Meanwhile, Kelantan police chief Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said investigations showed that there had been no element of commercial crime found in the case.

 

“So far, four reports have been made (in the state) and police have taken down the statements from all the individuals who made the reports.

 

“Our investigations show that there is no criminal element and the case has been classified as ‘no offence disclosed’ (NOD),” he said.