Ex-aide damns ex-IGP in SD
In his statutory declaration, Musa Hassan’s former aide claims that the ex-IGP had betrayed his oath of office by indulging in a slew of wrongdoings.
RK Anand, FMT
The Malaysian police force’s image continues to plummet as allegations of serious misconduct pour in against its top brass.
The police, which is ailing from a serious public confidence crisis, was dealt another black eye last week by none other than its former chief Musa Hassan.
The ex-inspector-general, whom detractors had accused of having several closets laden with skeletons himself, claimed that criminal elements had infiltrated the force.
Pointing the finger at Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Musa also charged that politicians interfered with investigations.
But his successor Ismail Omar downplayed the allegations as unimportant while Hishammuddin questioned the timing of Musa’s revelations which came during the Umno annual general assembly.
The snub by his successor led an infuriated Musa, who had described Ismail as a “good man” just hours before, to denounce him as a “snob” later.
Amid this raging controversy, a statutory declaration (SD) made in 2009 had now re-surfaced.
The document accused Musa of a slew of wrongdoings during his tenure and exposed how he had purportedly ruled with an iron fist, silencing critics with transfers and trumped-up charges.
The SD was by police officer Noor Azizul Rahim Taharim, who served as Musa’s aide de camp from 2005 to 2007.
Azizul claimed that during the period which he served under Musa, he had witnessed numerous things which caused him to lose confidence in the latter’s leadership.
Likening his former boss to a “pengkhianat” (traitor), he said: “Many of his [Musa’s] actions undermined the integrity and credibility of PDRM…”
“On many occasions, I observed that the public persona displayed by Musa was opposite to his private conduct. Musa’s actions constituted an act of betrayal of his oath of office,” he added.
‘Manipulation of promotions and postings’
Azizul claimed that former CID director Christopher Wan had revealed to him that Musa had directed the setting up of a covert blog to publish allegations of corruption against then deputy home minister Johari Baharom.
The contents of the blog, he said, damaged Johari’s reputation and subjected him to a probe by the then Anti-Corruption Agency (now known as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission).
“I am also aware of the statutory declarations made by several policemen, police informants and subjects of police actions showing links between Musa and the underworld, specifically concerning restricted residence detainee Goh Cheng Poh @ Tongku and one shadow figure, BK Tan.
“Based on my personal knowledge and involvement as the ADC to the IGP, I can confirm that the statements made by these deponents concerning Musa were true…,” he alleged.
Referring to the SDs of ASP Mior Fahim Ahmad and ASP Hong Kin Hock, Azizul confirmed that their allegations had basis.
The pair had claimed that there was manipulation of promotions, ranks and postings in the PDRM involving BK Tan.
“I have personal knowledge and involvement in that I was asked to compile and coordinate such posting orders based on the drafts and proposals made by BK Tan.
“Officers were transferred to achieve certain objectives. In some cases, there were ‘entrapments’ that made certain officers appear guilty of wrongdoings. In others, allegations were made against certain officers that resulted in them being given 24-hour transfer orders or short notice transfers.
“This gave the impression that Musa was eradicating corruption and abuses within PDRM… in most cases that was the furthest from the truth,” said Azizul.
“The credibility of these officers would be ‘demolished’ such that whatsoever information they gathered about Musa would be discredited. These officers would suffer hardship being transferred away from their families and home base. They would also get bypassed in promotions and suffer disciplinary action without the proper process.
“Consequently, less able officers climbed the ranks and the victimised officers were used as warnings against others… This process of ‘mecantas’ [pruning] explains the apparent lack of ability by PDRM to tackle crime, the lack of motivation and low morale within PDRM that saw crime escalating at an alarming rate during Musa’s tenure,” he added.
