Hamzah’s meddling in Special Branch, as told by ex-IGP

Minister wanted to have lackey as chief, charges Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador

(The Vibes) – Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador has revealed the goings-on behind Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin’s alleged interference in Bukit Aman’s Special Branch (SB).

The newly retired inspector-general of police told MalaysiaGazette that there was interference by “MDN” to determine who took up the post of SB director.

MDN is a Malay shorthand for home minister.

Hamid alleged that the move was made for the purpose of an individual’s political career.

“I am not the only one who has problems with MDN. SB is also unhappy with his actions since a year ago. I was informed that MDN forced SB to conduct several operations for his own political purposes.

“I cannot reveal what operations because every SB operation is secret, but suffice to say, the objective of the operations was not in line with the SB mandate, which is to preserve and manage national security,” he said yesterday.

He said SB refused to participate in an operation, and reported it to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin agreed that SB should not be involved in political work, causing the minister to be angry before showing interest in former senior SB officials whose contracts expired last year, said Hamid.

“The minister is said to have arranged to make his ‘boy’ (a former SB senior officer) the head of SB in Bukit Aman because the ‘boy’ would follow the minister’s instructions.

“As proof, on February 16, the then SB director was called by the Home Ministry secretary-general and asked to voluntarily terminate his contract. Otherwise, he would be given a month’s notice for the termination of his contract.

“The minister seemed impatient to put his ‘boy’ in the post when the SB director’s contract ends in mid-June.”

He said the issue was brought to the prime minister’s attention before the SB director was instructed to continue his service.

Datuk Mohamed Farid Abu Hassan is SB chief, having been appointed to the post in June 2019.

Hamzah last Friday admitted that it was him in a recently leaked audio recording of a discussion on the appointment of senior police officers.

“That is my voice. I didn’t do anything illegal. What did I do wrong? The wrongdoing was recording my conversation with someone. That is illegal. What I did was not wrong,” he told a press conference after announcing Hamid’s successor.

He said the clip is not new, and the discussion took place about a year ago.

Hamzah said it is his duty under the federal constitution, as Police Force Commission chairman, to oversee the appointment of high-ranking officers, including the IGP.

Later the same day, Hamid slammed the minister.

“This is what should be avoided. A minister cannot interfere with the management of daily tasks.

“I have already raised this with him (Hamzah). I already raised it with the chief secretary to the government. We have our bosses, we raised it to them, but he still wants the power (to interfere). This is not good for the country,” he was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today.

“I want to clarify that the (home minister’s) responsibility as chairman of the Police Force Commission has a limit.”

He also said Hamzah pushed to determine police officers’ placement.

Hamid added that many investigations into police misconduct carried out by the commission chaired by Hamzah have been suspended, and it meets only four times a year.

On April 13, Hamzah reportedly denied having undue influence over the transfer of senior police officers.

Earlier this month, a Facebook post went viral, stating the involvement of the home minister in the affairs of police regarding the postponed transfer of senior cops.

“I will meet the minister to explain my position and action in issuing the transfer order,” said Hamid.

“I should be the one to handle the matter as the IGP, as the law states that the command, control and regulation of (the police force) is my responsibility.”

He said he issued the transfer order for “the good of all”.

“There was nothing extraordinary about it, except that I was on leave at the last minute. And at the last minute, there was a directive to postpone it. I will meet him and explain why it has to go on.”