Zahid: Police report against Dr M nothing to do with Umno

(Malay Mail Online) – Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi denied today that Umno was plotting to have former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrested for criticising Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

The Umno vice-president said his party was not behind the recent police report calling for Dr Mahathir to be apprehended over remarks he made in a recent blog post titled “AG to AG”.

“It has nothing to do with Umno. Please get the IGP (Inspector General of Police),” he told reporters when approached at the sidelines of the Halal Cosmetic and Personal Care Products Industry forum here.

Yesterday, national police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police have opened a criminal defamation investigation against the former prime minister as several reports had been lodged over the latter’s controversial blog post.

“We have begun investigation a few days ago. If there is a case we will refer it to the Attorney-General,” New Straits Times quoted him as saying in a report on its website yesterday.

According to news portal The Malaysian Insider, the investigation is under Section 500 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum two-year jail term or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

Umno information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa recently claimed that Dr Mahathir’s February 3 blog post was seditious.